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^be Olant), Hie IReeources anb Ute people* 
IRlcbarb IDtllafranca, 

©cUgate ecnt b^ Costa IRica to Stues tbe Sgatcm of public Inatruction in tbe TaniteS 

States.— former Consul ©cnccal of Costa IRica to California— Secretary? of 

tbe S)elcgatfon of iDonSuras to tbe pansHmerlcan Congress, 1880*90, 

at "CClasbington, 2). C— SubsSlrcctor General of tbe National 

bureau of Statistics at Costa tRica.— Commissioner of 

Costa tRica at tbe Cotton States anfc Unternae 

tional Eipositlon at Htlanta, ©a. , 1895. 



^ 



NOTE.— ^r. IRicbarb IDillafranca will be accessable at the Cotton Slates and 
lutemational Exposition for all intending visitors to Costa Rica, and will be pleased to 
give personal letters of introduction, and furnish any additional specific information that 
may be required. All communications should be addressed to the Costa Rica Pavilion, 
Atlanta, Ga., until December 31st, 1895, and thereafter to care of Typographic Depart- 
ment, Sackett & Wilhelms Litho. Co., iio Fifth Avenue, New York. 



Coeta IRica: 



^be (5em of 

Hmencan IRepublics. 



^ 



ILbe Xanb, Me IRcsouicce ant) 1lt9 people. 



. . 36v . 



TRtcbar^ IDillafranca, 



■©elegatc sent b^ Costa tRica to Stu^v tbc System of public Unstruction in tbc lilnltct 

Slates.— Jformer Consul ffieneral of Costa "IRica to California.— Secretari? of 

tbe delegation of llDon&uras to tbe lPan=Hmcdcan Congress, 1889=90, 

at "DClasbington, S>. C— Sub=Birector ©eneral of tbe IHational 

ffiurcau of Statistics at Costa ."IRica. — Commissioner of 

Costa "IRica at tbc Cotton States an6 1lntcrna= 

tional Exposition at Htlanta, ©a., 1895. 



^ 



NOTE.— /n>r. 1Ricbar& IDillafranca will be accessable at the Cotton States and 
International Exposition for all intending visitors to Costa Rica, and will be pleased to 
give personal letters of introduction, and furnish any additional specific information that 
may be required. All communications should be addressed to the Costa Rica Pavilion, 
Atlanta, Ga., until December 31st, 1S95, and thereafter to care of Typographic Depart- 
ment, Sackett & Wilhelms Litho. Co., no Fifth Avenue, New York. 




52698 



Copyrighted 1895 

BY 

Richard Villafranca. 



SACKETT & WlLHELMS LiTHO. CO., "^ J 

Typographic Dkp't., 
Paul Pfizenmayer. Mgr., \ 

110 Fifth Ave., N. Y. 



Hutbor'6 Bebication. 



Uo tbe people ot tbe xaniteb States, because i 

appreciate their incomparable thrift and unparalleled industry, 
and because my long residence among them, has aroused in me 
an honest sentiment of deep, fraternal sympathy in their welfare. 

UO tbe people of Costa IRica, with earnest gratitude, 
and full appreciation of their kindly feeling. 

Uo tbe Students qX tbese ifacts, tbe IDisitors 
an& IFlew Settlers of Costa IRica from tbe XHnite^ 

States, because I have a congenial interest in the welfare 
of Costa Rica, and a well-founded conviction, born of long 
experience, of its resources, and because I firmly believe that 
the country will never reach the high state of development and 
prosperity which its wealth warrants, without the aid and hearty 
co-operation of Yankee energy. 

UO Ubese an& all ©tbers, interested in acquiring 
for themselves a brighter future, I dedicate this series of facts 
and notes. 



Contents* 



PAGE. 

llntroDuction 7 

WXb^ It is Desirable to ILive in Costa IRica 9 

Ibow to (3et tTbere n 

Zbc Uime anD Cost 13 

XLo IReacb tbe Capital— San 5ose 14 

<5eoarapbical position ot tbe TRepublic 15 

Brea, population an& political Divisions 16 

<3eneral tTopograpbv 19 

Mountains, Islands, Peninsulas and Capes 19, 20 

Rivers, Lakes and Harbors 22 

Climate anO Seasons 24 

Table of Average Montlily 'i'emperature and Rainfall ... 27 

CTbe people 28 

Language, Religion, Public Instruction, Native Aborigines. 28, 30 

Foreigners, Industries 30, 32 

Government 36 

Occupations 37 

Amusements 39 

jIBeans of Communication 39 

Avenues of Transportation and Approximate Distances . . 39 

Railroads 42 

Telegraph System 43 

Telephone 44 

The Postal Service 44 

Inter-Oceanic Canals of tlie Future 45 

Commerce 45 

Exportation and Importaliou 46 

Articles that are Produced in the Country, but have been 

Imported 47, 4<^ 

iRates of Exchange 49 



PAGE- 

"Matural IRcsources 50 

Productions 50 

Table of Mines and Mineral Resources 51 

Mineral Springs 52 

Useful and Ornamental Woods 53. 

Medicinal and Oleaginous Plants 57 

Dye Plants 64 

Textile Plants 65 

Agricultural Products 67 

agricultural iproDuctions 71 

Coffee 71 

Manner of Cultivating Coffee and Estimated Profits .... 75. 

Important Letter Bearing on the Subject by Former U. S. 

Consul 8a 

Bananas 86 

Expense of Banana Productions and Profits 90 

Table of Banana Plantations 94 

Cocoa 96 

A Letter on the Subject by John Schroeder 98 

Manner of Cultivating Cocoa and Estimated Profits .... 102 

Sugar Cane 106 

Cotton and Wheat 107 

Cocoanuts 109- 

Rice, Beans and Corn 109. 

Potatoes 114 

Sarsaparilla and Vanilla 114 

Tobacco 114 

India Rubber 115 

Indigo 115 

Indigenous Fruits and New Culture 116 

An Affidavit by an American Citizen Bearing on the Subject. 116. 
Comparative Table of Expense of Production and Net 

Profit in Costa Rica and the United States 121 

Stock Farming 124 

Costa IRlca's (3reatC6t Mant— JEmigration 134 

Wbere to Settle 139 




Ifntrobuction^ 




FTER having traveled extensively throughout 
the United States and Costa Rica, and visited 
nearly all the republics from the Isthmus 
of Panama to the greatest of the World's 
Republics — the United States — I humbl}' 
present this series of notes, facts, and im- 
pressions of Costa Rica. The material has 
been gathered in a neutral way from all accessible resources, 
and especially from my personal connections with the National 
Bureau of Statistics. This favored position has enabled me 
to gather valuable information, which I present in this pam- 
phlet in a somewhat disconnected style; My definite appoint- 
ment as Commissioner of Costa Rica to the Cotton States 
and International Exposition reached me at so late a date 
that this pamphlet must, of necessity, be hastily prepared 
and printed ; but I hope that my readers will be able to read 
between the lines, and gather from the tabulated facts the true 
story of Costa Rica's quiescent wealth. 

Having crossed and recrossed, and lived for prolonged 
periods in both the United States and Costa Rica, I modestly 
claim to have viewed things, while in Costa Rica, with an Amer- 



ican eye, and have devoted special attention to studying the- 
industries and national resources of the country of especial in- 
terest to progress in America. 

I have often been strongly impressed, and even grieved,, 
while travelling over the western states and territories, at the 
hard and unremunerative efforts of an honest people trying tO' 
make lands, that seem to me like deserts, produce food. It 
hardly seems possible that, in this age of adventure and ad- 
vancement, an almost unlimited territory, with a tropical 
sun, a temperate climate, assured rains, lands whose fertility 
are exhaustless, and whose seasons permit of two or more; 
crops a year, should be left neglected, while men, failing to- 
cultivate wastes, die of discouragement. Yet such is the case, 
and all because of the mistaken, popular report of burning heat, 
death'dealing fevers, etc., which exist only in the low lands, 
and swamps, and of which Co.sta Rica has very little. We have,, 
indeed, reached a time Avhen the tide of emifjration should gro 
South, to Costa Rica, the tropical land, with a prolonged May 
day splendor, where neither oppressive heat nor freezing cold 
prevail, and the flowers are ever in bloom. 

It is to the people of the United States, that the Costa Ricans 
look for true American labor to develop its sleeping wealth. 
It is to them, that they look for men with the blood of never- 
dying thrift coursing through their veins. It is from them, 
and them onh', that Costa Rica expects permanent develop- 
mental aid, and if this book falls into the hands of men of 
honest efforts, who can and will unite it to southern lethargy, 
its object will be effected, and my work, which is devoted 
alike to the Americans and Costa Ricans, will have served its 
mission. 




Mb^ is Costa IRica 2)esirable as a 
Ipeimanent Ibome ? 




^'^^^^ 



1^0 ANSWER the question that heads this 
article is, beyond doubt, the easiest thing 
imaginable, and can be done by simply 
saying, because pleasure, wealth and 
health can readily be obtained in this 
delectable spot. In order to prove that 
this statement is not exaggerated, I can 
only say, " Go thither and be convinced ! " But before you 
go, kind reader, permit me to point out some of the most 
important features of the countiy. 

First: — Costa Rica, with an area of 31,220^ square 
miles, which makes her twice as large as either Switzerland or 
Denmark, and three times the size of Belgium, has about 
243,205 inhabitants, and a total annual business with foreign 
countries amounting to ^13,271,779, which averages 
$54.57 per individual, including women and children. This 
is a larger proportion per capita than that of France, Italy or 



* For more detailed information on this subject apply to, or address I'Sdv. "Klcbacb 
©tllafranca, at the Cotton States and Intei-national Exposition until December 31, 1895; 
and thereafter at Typographic Department, Sackett & Wilhelms Lithographing Co., 
no Fifth Ave., New ^'ork. 



Spain, where the rate of foreign commerce is $40.05, $14.08 
and $17.62 respectively. The above figures clearly demon- 
strate that the people are extremely active, and that the 
resources of the country are marvelous to permit them to 
accomplish so much, when they are in need of so many of 
the facilities possessed by older nations, such as scientific 
workmen, railroads, and improved machinery. These would 
perform in an hour, the work that now takes the native of 
Costa Rica one or two days. 

The traveler will notice at once, the peculiar configuration 
of Costa Rica with its range of mountains, transversing the 
country in almost a southeasterly direction, rising abruptly 
from the level lands on the coast, and forming beautiful pla- 
teaus and extensive valleys at different altitudes, which resem- 
ble the terraces in a garden ; its large rivers, many of them 
navigable, and numberless other smaller streams that irrigate 
every foot of ground, and afford motive powers for all indus- 
tries ; with abundance of excellent harbors on either ocean. 

All these circumstances explain perfectly the reason for 
finding in that country the most varied productions of both 
the tropical and temperate zones, at such short distances that 
a man can, in one day, attend to his wheat field situated in 
the colder region of the plateau, give his instructions on a coffee 
plantation located in a warmer and lower position, descend still 
further to the sugar-cane " fincas " where he superintends the 
manufacture of hs sugar, and from thence proceed to hotter 
and lower lands to inspect the works of cacao gatherings 
banana planting, rubber culture or mahogany cutting. 

In this country, where no extremes of heat or cold exist, the 
most fanciful persons may, in only a few minutes, remove their 
headquarters to any temperature ranging between 55° and 82°, 
and whatever locality be their choice, they will always find that 
the temperature selected will remain almost unchanged through- 
out the length of their visits, though extended for a year. 

There you can find stores where all the luxuries of the 



European markets are sold ; markets well provided with the 
necessaries of life and dainties to satisfy the most capricious 
appetite ; houses, large and small, comfortable and pretty, but, 
remember, they are no palaces ; coquettish parks where excel- 
lent bands play several times a week for the benefit of the 
citizens ; pubHc buildings, large, substantial and even elegant, 
but not costing twenty millions of dollars, as did the capitol 
of Albany, naturally do not pose as marvels ; schools and col- 
leges provided with competent native and foreign teachers where 
children may get a very good education ; hospitals and other 
charitable institutions ; mineral springs, warm and cold, with ex- 
cellent medicinal properties ; fertile and abundant land that 
yields everything imaginable ; rich mines of gold, silver, 
copper and iron, mercury, coal, silex, white and variegated 
marble, onyx, sulphur, pumice stone, alabaster, alum, quartz, 
crystal, etc.; forests containing valuable woods for building, 
dyeing and furniture making ; and finally, a government thor- 
oughly republican, that besides protecting the rights of each 
citizen, is willing to offer every inducement to honest foreigners 
who desire to establish themselves in a country, where the 
people are most hospitable, and ready to welcome with open 
arms, every one who comes into the repubUc, bringing new 
■elements of progress and civilization. 



Ibow to (5et ^bere. 

There are two important ports in the country ; Puntarenas 
on the Pacific Ocean, and Port Limon on the Carribbean Sea. 
Both of these ports are touched regularly by comfortable 
steamers. For travelers from any of the Eastern section of 
the United States, the best plan is, undoubtedly, to engage 
passage in one of the weekly steamers which, leaving the port 
of New York, sails by way of Colon to Limon ; this route is 
perhaps the longest, requiring from thirteen to fourteen days 



to land in the territory of Costa Rica, but it affords perfect 
comfort, as the steamers used by the two lines, which run 
between the ports mentioned, are provided with everything 
necessary for the convenience and pleasure of the passengers. 

Another route is especially serviceable for people leaving 
any of the Southern or Central States ; this goes from New- 
Orleans directly to Limon, and consists of small steamers 
engaged in the banana trade. This trip is made in from four, 
to four and one-half days, a circumstance which, together with 
the low cost of passage, is quite an inducement to those who 
are willing to disregard the lack of comforts on the vessels. 

There is a third route which is usually adopted by the 
people from California or others of the Western States. By 
this route steamers are boarded in San Francisco ; after touch- 
ing at many of the Mexican and Central American ports, pas- 
sengers land at Puntarenas, after a period of fifteen or six- 
teen days. This trip affords the traveler many opportunities 
of visiting the main sea ports of Mexico and Central America, 
and even a few of the interior towns ; some of the points not 
in its favor are its long duration, and the inconveniences expe- 
rienced in journeying from Puntarenas to the capital of the 
country, a jaunt which is both tedious and expensive, owing 
to the many changes from the railroad to the backs of mules, 
and vice- versa. 

For Europeans the best system is to take a steamer from 
any of the principal ports, bound direct to Colon, where they 
select the route which best suits their purpose. If desirous of 
saving time, the most practical way of reaching Costa Rica is 
by embarking on one of the vessels that run between Colon 
and Limon, making the trip in about a day and a half; but if 
they wish to visit the mines or farming lands of the western 
slope, the most feasible plan would be to cross the Isthmus of 
Panama by rail, and take there, one of the steamers sailing to 
the Central American ports, reaching Puntarenas in a day and 
a half after leaving Panama. 













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Zo IReacb tbe Capital-San Jose.* 

When the traveler arrives at Puntarenas, where the landing 
is made in pretty little boats which carry him to a substantial 
iron pier, he must procure " carreteros " to carry his baggage 
in ox-carts to the interior, paying for such services from thirty 
cents to one dollar and a half per arroba (25 pounds), accord- 
ing to the season ; the rates are highest during the winter, 
and lowest in the summer season. As it takes from five to 
eight days for the ox-carts to reach the capital, it is wise to 
carry small valises containing a couple of suits and some 
changes of linen. It is also quite important to engage the 
services of a man or " maletero " to attend to the horses or 
carry the valises. 

When all these preparations have been made, the next step 
is to purchase a railroad ticket for the journey of the fourteen 
miles which separate the port from a small town called 
"Esparta"; here horses have to be engaged to ride to the 
city of Alajuela (36 miles) over a road which passes through 
a number of little towns and settlements. It is often the case 
that the horses will become lame or tired, and travelers are 
compelled to remain a day, and perhaps a night, at a peasant's 
house or in a village where there are no hotels ; hence it is 
quite necessary to carry saddle-bags well supplied with edibles, 
and also a few blankets. 

On arriving at Alajuela the mules are left, and the passen- 
gers are glad to rest on the luxurious cushions of a train 
which runs to San Jose (the capital), a distance of thirteen 
and one-quarter miles. 

The traveler lands at Limon without having to go through 
the annoyances experienced in most ports of Central America, 
for, when the steamer reaches the magnificent wharf, he finds 



* For more detailed information on this subject apply to, or address Ittix. 1Ricbar^ 
IDillafranca, at the Cotton States and International Exposition until December 31, 1895; 
and thereafter at Typographic Department, Sackett &. Wilhelms Lithographing Co., 
no Fifth Ave., New York. 

14 



a commodious railway which will convey him to a place near 
Reventazon. Here the road branches off, and the traveler 
may remain in the same train, which will take him through 
beautiful forests and imposing canons to the old capital 
(Cartago), and thence to San Jose, making the whole taip in 
about six or seven hours. If, on the other hand, he prefers 
to take the branch line to Carrillo, which is the terminus, he 
will certainly see many a gigantic iron bridge, and the won- 
derful plains called, " llanos del Sta Ciira," where hundreds 
of banana plantations, thriving in veritable luxuriance, contrib- 
ute their products to supply the demanc 3 of the United States 
markets ; but he will experience the inconvenience of traveling 
from Carrillo to the capital (twenty-five miles) on horseback, 
spending an entire day in covering that short distance, and 
very often sufifering the discomfort of a heavy shower. 

This latter route was the only available one from Limon to 
San Jose up to the 17th of December, 1890, when the second 
line was inaugurated and opened to the public. Notwith- 
standing the inconvenience of the horseback ride from Carrillo 
to San Jose, strangers should not fail to make at least one 
trip to, or from Limon, through that marvelous portion of the 
country ; reserving for another day, the jaunt over the former 
route, for it, too, is full of incomparable beauties. 



(5eootapbical position of the 
IRepublic 

Of the five independent nations of Central America, Costa 
Rica is the most southern, having on the northwest the 
Republic of Nicaragua, and on the southeast the Republic of 
Colombia, South America ; its eastern shore is washed by the 
waters of the Carribbean Sea, and its western confine is the 
Pacific Ocean. It lies between the 8° and 11° 16' north 

15 



latitude, and the 8i° 40' and the 85° 39' longitude west of 
" — - V 

the meridian of Greenwich. 

A 6asual glance at the map will demonstrate that Costa 
Rica, by th? mere fact of its geographical position, is destined 
to be, in the Hear future, one of the most important sections 
in America, and ti.e possibilities of a rapid growth appear as 
an unquestionable certainty, when we consider that its eastern 
and western boundaries are the two oceans, whose waters 
penetrate into the irre(jularities of the coast line, forming num- 
berless harbors, safe/ and attractive, wherein vessels can 
always find valuable xargoes, brought from the interior either 
by rail or fluvial communications. 

No less important is the fact that either the Nicaragua or 
the Panama Canal (or both) will have to be built, thus sup- 
plying the country with new facilities for transportation, and 
converting it into a sort of universal warehouse for vessels 
going and coming from every part of the world. 

The salubrity of its climate, the comtorts of civilization, the 
beauties of nature, the hospitality of the people, the undis- 
turbed condition of the political institutions, and the countless 
resources found in the land, will doubtless make of Costa 
Rica one of the most desirable of places to immigrants seek- 
ing shelter, from either the penetrating cold or the suffocating 
heat experienced in most other places, not excepting Europe 
or the United States. 



Hrea, population anb political 
divisions. 

Area. — The area of the Republic of Costa Rica is calcu- 
lated in 31,220!/^ square miles, but the probability is that the 
territory is much larger. There are so many different opin- 
ions on the subject, the above estimate has been accepted as 

16 



the one that approaches nearest to the truth, until a survey 
of the country reveals the real extent, and, brings before the 
public the hidden and, undoubtedly, exhaustless resources of 
the many portions at present unknown. 

Population. — The number given as the population of the 
country is not absolutely correct. Some estimates place it at 
250,000 inhabitants, while others give but 200,000. This 
; discrepency is due to the difficulty encountered in the prep- 
aration of the census, which arises from the fear of the 
villagers to inscribe their names, believing that such regis- 
tration is intended either for military services or for taxation. 
Therefore they seek refuge in the forests where they^ remain 
until the work is done. To avoid these unsatisfactory results, 
other plans, less accurate, have been resorted to by the Gov- 
ernment, and the official reports for the year 1892 show that 
the country's population amounts to 243,205. 

Political Divisions. — Inhabitants distributed in five pro\- 
inces and two " Comarcas " as follows : 

Province of San Jose. 

County of San Jose 39,112 

" Escasu 6,522 

" " Desamparados 6,471 

" " Puriscal 6,845 

" " Aserri 6,030 

" " Mora 5.814 

" " Tarrasu 2,583 

" " Goicocehea . . 3,341 



Total 76,718 

Province of Alajuela. 

County of Alajuela 19,300 

" Grecia 8,797 

" " San Ramon 9,928 

" " San Mateo 3)353 

" " Naranjo 6,847 

" " Palmares ... 2,770 

Total 57.203 



Province of Heredia. 

County of Heredia 16,480 

" Barba 2,964 

" " Santo Domingo 5, 118 

" " Sta. Barbara . 2,845 

" " San Rafael 4,204 

Total 31,611 

Province of Cartago. 

County of Cartago 25,898 

" " Paraiso 7,819 

" "La Union 4,256 

Total 37>793 

Province of Guanacaste. 

County of Liberia 5,883 

" " Bagaces 1,476 

" " Nicoya 4,577 

" " Sta. Cruz 5,948 

" " Las Canas 2,165 

Total 20,049 

Province of Puntarenas. 

County of Puntarenas 8,869 

" " Esparta 3,298 

Total • 12,167 

COMARCA OF LiMON. 

County of Limon 7,484 

Grand Total 243,205 

Thus the territorial extent of Costa Rica, given as 31,220^ 
square miles, and its population as 209,644, only averages the 
small proportion of 6.71 inhabitants for each square mile, 
which compared with the population of Massachusetts (221.8 
per square mile), Rhode Island (254.9 P^^ square mile), Italy 
(261.79 P^^ square mile), Netherlands (312.86 per square 
mile) and Belgium (481.71 per square mile), proves that the 

18 



population in Costa Rica should not be less than 6,924,707 
inhabitants, and as large a number as 15,039,227 could live 
comfortably and derive the benefits of a country whose sur- 
prising wealth is but dimly realized, even by the natives them- 
selves. 

(Beneral TTopootapb^. 

fIDountaine* 

The territory of Costa Rica is crossed from northwest 
to southeast by a range of mountains which ramify in every 
direction forming high plateaus, extensive valleys and lofty 
hills, some of which are of a volcanic nature. The principal 
branches of the main range are the mountains of Talamanca, 
towards the southeastern portion of the country ; the moun- 
tain of Dota, located near the centre and running from east to 
west, forming five or six smaller ranges, the principal of which 
are known as Cerros de Bustamante, Salvage, Caraigres, Can- 
delaria and Puriscal, which ultimately unite and form the 
mountain Azul ; the mountains of Chirripo and Turrialba in 
the province of Cartago ; Toro Amarillo and Barba in Heredia ; 
Congo, Tigre, Poas, San Carlos and Mt. del Aguacate in Ala- 
juela ; Cerros del Sardinal, Camalina, Naranjo and Sarnoso in 
Guanacaste ; Maderal, Matapalo, Campana, Mallasmo, Sta 
Rita, Ario, Cerros del Ojo de Agua and Cerros de la Cueva in 
the peninsula of Nicoya ; finally, Sal-si-puedes on the penin- 
sula of Golfo Dulce. 

The principal peaks, which tower above these mountains, 
and their heights are as follows : Pico Rovalo (7,200 feet), 
Ujum (9,600 feet) and Pico Blanco (i 1,800 feet) on the Tala- 
manca, range and Cerros de la Muerte on the mountains of 
Dota. The volcanoes in the country and their elevations are : 
Irazu (11,500 feet) and Turrialba (11,350 feet) in Cartago; 
Cacho Negro in the mountains of Sarapiqui, and Barba (8,700 
feet) in the Barba Mountain (both in Heredia) ; Poas (8,895 

19 



feet) in the mountains of Poas, Alajuela ; Tenorio Miravalles 
(4,700 feet), Rincon de la Vieja and Orosi (5,200 feet) in the 
range of Guanacaste. Of the volcanoes only a limited num- 
ber show any signs of activity, and these were considered nearly 
harmless until the last of 1888, and the first of 1889, when 
some severe shocks reminded the peaceful inhabitants of Costa 
Rica of the existence of these proud sentinels, who shook 
down a few antique, incommodious houses which they would 
not consent to longer disfigure the country. 

While the country is well provided with such a great num- 
ber of mountains, whose different altitudes occasion the great- 
est variety in climate and, consequently, of products, there are 
also wide valleys located at various heights, most of them 
being surrounded by stately hills. There are also extensive 
plains on the Atlantic and Pacific Slopes, on the shores of Lake 
Nicaragua and the banks of the San Juan River, from which 
the mountains rise, sometimes gradually, but more often 
ascending suddenly until their summits are lost in the clouds. 
These plains, being the lowest, are always the warmest sec- 
tions of the country, and as they are thoroughly irrigated by 
countless rivers and rivulets flowing from the neighboring 
mountains and hills, produce the most luxuriant vegetation 
that can be desired. 

The principal plains or " Uanuras " are, in the North, Tortu- 
guero, Guatuso, Sta Clara, Colorado and San Carlos ; in the 
South, are El General, Pirris, Nueva Sta Maria, Canas Gordas 
and Terraba. There are a great many others scattered over 
the republic, especially in Guanacaste and in the most southern 
portion of the country, which are not as well known as those 
mentioned ; these owe their celebrity to their inexhaustible 
resources. 

1l0lant)0, peninsulas ant) Capes, 

The islands in the Pacific Ocean are as follows : — west of 
Guanacaste we find the islands of Castalinas and Samara. In 



the Gulf of Nicoya lie Chira, Venado,Bejuco, Caballos, Benu- 
gale, Jasper, Alcatraz and San Lucas Islands ; the last one is 
used by the Government, who send there criminals of serious 
offences. West of the most southern part of the country are 
found the islands of Onepos, El Cano, and the celebrated 
island of El Coco, where there is supposed to be a hidden 
treasure, left there by pirates, and which has been frequently, 
but unsuccessfully, sought by believers in the legend. On 
this same island, the Government has erected a penitentiary 
for the incarceration of criminals condemned to the highest 
possible punishment. 

In the Atlantic Ocean is the island of Uvita which lies 
opposite the town of Limon ; on this island a quarantine 
station and a hospital have been established by the Govern- 
ment. Forming the entrances to Bocas del Toro and Laguna 
de Chiriqui Bayo are the islands of Colon, San Cristobal, 
Bastimento, Popa and Escudo de Veraguas. 

The principal peninsulas and capes along the Pacific coast 
are Capes Descates, Murcielagos, Gorda, Morris, Hermoso, 
Filibustero, Guiones, and Quinanes on the western shore of 
Guanacaste. On the eastern side of the Nicoya Peninsula are 
found Capes Blanco, Bocana, and Vela. On the eastern side 
of the Nicoya Gulf are Capes Puntarenas, noted for the pretty 
port located on it, (also called " Puntarenas "), and Capes 
Caldera, Sucia and Herradura. Laved directly by the waters 
of the Pacific Ocean, and lying between the Nicoya and Dulce 
Gulfs are Capes Judas, Dominical, Uvita, Mala, Violin, Llor- 
ona, Salsipuedes and Matapalo ; the last four are on the 
western side of the peninsula of Gulf Dulce, while projecting 
from the eastern side, and into the gulf are Capes Sombrero, 
Fifrito, Arenitas and Tigre ; on the eastern side of this same 
gulf are Capes Golfito, Del Banes and Platanal. The most 
southern point on the Pacific coast is formed by Cape Burica, 
which is the place where the limits of Costa Rica reach 
Colombia. 



The capes on the Atlantic^Oceaii are Punta de Castilla, 
which is most northern and marks the beginning of the boun- 
dary Hne between Costa Rica and Nicaragua ; Blanca or 
Portela projecting between the Moin and Limon Bays ; Capes 
Cahuito, Carreto, Monos and Sarabeta on the eastern coast of 
Talamanca, and finally, Cape Valiente at the entrance of 
Laguna de Chiriqui. 

IRivere, Xakee anb Ibarbore* 

The many navigable rivers which empty into the Pacific 
and Atlantic Oceans, Lake Nicaragua, and the San Juan 
Rivers, forming natural highways for the transportation of the 
products of the country, and the multitude of smaller rivers 
which cross the land in every direction, thus fertilizing the 
soil, originate from the mountainous character of the country 
and the short distance between the oceans. Under the influ- 
ence of the tropical sun, dense clouds are drawn from these 
two vast bodies of water, swept over the country by the pre- 
vailing trade winds, condensed by the gigantic mountains and 
coaxed to descend, finally, in heavy showers, which thoroughly 
impregnate the ground. 

The density of the forests retains the moisture thus obtained, 
and produces innumerable crystal-like springs that burst out 
from the sides of every hill and mountain ; many of these 
streams unite in their course and form the rivers with which 
Costa Rica is so well provided. The direction in which the 
rivers flow is determined by the great range of mountains that 
crosses the country, dividing it into two important slopes, the 
Atlantic and Pacific ; thus it is that the rivers springing from 
the eastern side of the range empty into the Atlantic, and 
those on the western side into the Pacific. There is, also, a 
slope of minor importance, formed by a cross range in the 
northern part of Costa Rica, which causes a number of rivers 
•to flow into Lake Nicaragua and San Juan River. 



FLOWING INTO 

Lake Nicaragua. 

San Juan River. 

<< (( (( 

Atlantic Ocean. 



Bahia del Tortugfuero. 



Pacific Ocean. 



Gulf of Nicoya, Pacific Ocean. 



The principal navigable rivers are 

RIVER 

River Frio, 
" San Carlos, 
" Sarapiqui, 
" San Juan, 
" Parismina, 
California, 

Francisco Maria Soto 
Reventazon, 
River Changuinola, 
" Palacio, 
" Penitencia, 
Naranjo, 
Savegre, 
Baru, 

Tempisque, 
Las Piedras, 
There are eighty other rivers which, though not navigable, 
are large enough for all other purposes and afford abundance 
of motive power. Besides these, countless rivulets are found 
in every direction. 

The country has no lakes of great importance. There are 
a few of small dimensions, and of no use for commercial pur- 
poses, but their banks will eventually prove of great import- 
ance as sites for winter and summer resorts for the people of 
northern regions, who may wish to sojourn in Costa Rica. 
The principal are 

Lake Manata toward the northwest near Sarapiqui River. 
Poas on the volcano of Poas. 
Barba " " " Barba. 

Sansan toward the east near Sixola, River Talamanca. 
Tenorio toward the west in Guanacaste. 
Sicope toward the south, north of Golfo Dulce. 
San Carlos toward the north , on the plains of San Carlos. 

23 



Both coasts of Costa Rica, the eastern and the western, are 
well provided with large and sheltered ports and harbors, 
wherein vessels of any dimensions can safely enter. The 
principal ones on the Pacific coast are the bays of Salinas, 
Murcielago, and the Santa Elena in the Gulf of Papagallo 
situated towards the northwest ; the bays of Culebra and 
Cocos on the coast of Guanacaste ; Port Puntarenas, Ballena, 
Caldera and Herradura Bays in the Gulf of Nicoya ; Brava 
and Sierpe Bays in the southern part of the Comarca of Pun- 
tarenas ; Agujas, Golfito and Pavon Bays in Dulce Gulf, and, 
finally, David Bay in the most southern portion of the coast. 

On the Atlantic coast are found the Boreas del Colorado at 
the mouth of the Colorado River, the Bay of Tortuguero 
wherein empty the Penitencia and Sierpe Rivers ; the Paris- 
mina Bay into which empties the Parismina River ; the Pacuare 
Bay into which the Pacuare River flows ; the Moin Bay and 
the port of Limon both on the loth parallel of latitude, Limon 
being a few miles east of Moin ; Port Viejo between Capes 
Cahuita and Carreta ; Sandan Bay which is a little south of 
the Telire River and a number of other bays in Bocas del 
Toro and Laguna de Chiriqui. 



Climate anb Seasons,* 

The general impression held by foreigners, who have never 
visited the country, in regard to the climate is, as in otlier 
matters, a very erroneous one. The fact that the southern 
cities of the United States, particularly the sea-ports, are 
warmer and, perhaps, less healthy than those of a more north- 
ern climate, is no good reason for the belief that countries, 
lying still farther south and nearer to the equatorial line, must 



*For more detailed information on this subject apply to, or address fftir. "IRicbart 
IDillafranca, at the Cotton States and International Exposition until December 31, 1895; 
and thereafter at Typographic Department, Sackett & Wilhelms Lithographing Co., 
no Fifth Ave., New York. 

24 



be warmer and more unhealthy in the same proportion, as their 
relative distance from the poles. 

The natural conditions of Costa Rica are such, that even 
located as it is between degrees 8° and 1 1° i6' north latitude, 
no extremes of heat are ever felt. The temperature is uniform 
and mild throughout the entire year, varying only according 
to the altitude of the locality. On the coast and up to about 
1, 600 feet, the temperature varies from 72° to 82° F. ; at 
1 ,640 feet, it is about 69.80°; at 2,625 feet, about 66.20°; 
at 3,937 feet, from 57° to 60° ; at 5,905 feet, from 51.80° to 
54.40°, and at 9,186 feet, ranges from 44,60° to 48.20°. 

The mild temperature enjoyed throughout the country 
necessarily contributes to the salubrity of the climate, and 
there are, therefore, no endemic or malignant diseases. Nor 
even on the coast, always warmer, generally low, and often 
swampy, are known to exist any coast fevers ; this is due, 
perhaps, to the constant sea breezes, which carry away the 
miasmas, that would otherwise accumulate and injure the 
healthful conditions of the coastal belt. 

To say that on the coast there are never any attacks of 
malaria would not be altogether exact, for people going from 
the colder to the warmer regions of the country, or foreigners 
from more northern latitudes, are subject to them if no 
proper care is taken to avoid them ; for this reason it is advis- 
able not to use too freely the water, fruits and liquors, and to 
avoid a lengthened exposure to the direct rays of the sun or 
the dampness of the evening until acclimated ; then, living on 
the coast is nearly as safe as in the interior. 

The death rate given below for 1889 will clearly demon- 
strate that the climate of Costa Rica is, undoubtedly, perfectly 
healthy. " The total amount of deaths in the whole country 
was estimated as 2.54 per cent, for each one hundred inhabi- 
tants ; of these, 1.501 per cent, were children under ten years 
of age. The mortality in Puntarenas, for the same year, was 
3.84 per cent, for every one hundred individuals. The large 

25 



mortality among children, amounting to 58.97 per cent, of the 
whole death rate, is due entirely to the lack of care and 
knowledge on the part of the peasants in raising their off- 
spring, who are allowed to go barefooted, are scantily clothed, 
and permitted to eat fruits which are not considered whole- 
some, even for grown people. 

Comparing the above figures with those obtained in other 
countries, it will be noticed that Costa Rica, even with such a 
heavy loss of children, has a far better climate than Charles- 
ton, S. C, where the death rate is 3.079 per cent, per one. 
hundred inhabitants; Mobile, Ala., 3.12; Louisville, Ky., 
3.215 ; Washington, D. C, 4.868 ; Montreal, 3.72 ; Berlin, 
2.904 ; Dublin, 2.91 ; and St. Petersburg, 5.14. These are but 
a few of the many large cities located in more northern climes. 

There are but two seasons in Costa Rica as in all tropical 
countries : the rainy season, called " invierno " or winter, which 
begins in May and ends in December, and the dry season, 
" verano " or summer, which takes up the rest of the year. 
As has already been stated, there are no extremes of cold and 
heat ; the temperature being mild and uniform in every part 
of the country, the trees never lose their leaves, and the various 
plants thrive equally well in one month as in another ; all of 
which tends to make each season a perennial spring. The 
seasons, therefore, are only distinguishable by the rain-fall 
which, on the Pacific Slope, occurs during the months already 
designated, while on the Atlantic Slope the case is reversed ; 
that is to say, on the Atlantic side, the winter commences in 
December and ends in May, leaving the remaining six months 
for the summer or dry season. 

None of the scourges that afflict other countries at different 
times of the year ever trouble Costa Rica ; tempests, hurri- 
canes and cyclones are entirely unknown, while floods, which 
ruin plantations and villages in other countries, never occur in 
this republic, notwithstanding the copiousness of the rains ; 
this is owing to the mountainous formation of the country. 

26 



The following table shows the temperature and rain fall of 
San Jose for the years 1886, 1887 and 1888, and by them 
may be judged the rest of the countr}^ 



00 
u 

w 

w 

!A 
O 

o 



Q 
•P 
H 



o 

Q 



10 



•saB3^\ i UI 

9SBJ3AY 



O vo 



O 



O r^ vc 00 >0 M O 

r^ r^ M r^ CO ro 10 

CN cc w 10 t^ ctn 10 

CO 0* rO d M vd "O 



•saB9^ ? UI N r^ o 
9anjBJ9diu9j] f^ ^ <20 



•8881 



01 CO 00 



ON w 



01 vO 






0\ C7^ On On 00 
vc vO ^ vO VO 



VD ^ '^ ^ 



•9JlHHa9dlU9J^ 
9SBJ9AY 

•SS8I 



'IIM uiB-a qoui 
•'^881 



ON O 



ON 



CO 



O 



LO ON 



\C ro ^ 
10 ON O 



to Tj- 0« 



ON 

o 
-^ 

ON 



o 
o 

CO 






ON 


n 


„ 


(N 


"+ 


^ 


10 


CO 


w 


ON 


^ 


h-f 


ro 








10 


On 


"+ 


>-i 


00 


h-l 








00 


':)-• 





r^ 




10 





0) 


10 


i-i 


VD 


'^ 





00 


00 










t^ 





ID 


VO 


vO 





M 






VO 



On 




ON 


VO 




00 





ON 


ON 


VO 
10 


cc 

ON 


10 





VO 


10 

VO 


VO 


r^ 

^ 


CO 
vO 


VO 


CO 


VO 


VO 
VO 


VO 

VO 


vC 



VO 


VO 



00 

CO 

ON 



ON 
VO 



W 
Q 

< 



W 
W 

00 
VO 
00 



Q 

H 
< 



•9aniBJ9diu3j^ 

92BJ9AY 



"IIM "F'a V"! 
'9881 



'* 
■^ 


10 


ON 


ON 





00 


CO 


ON 

fO 





"0 


VO 


00 


VO 


10 

VO 


10 

VO 


VO 
VO 


ON 

VO 














ON 

VO 


oc 

VO 


VO 


VO 


00 
vO 



00 

o 



rO rO to VO M 

00 ^ VO O 0< 
ON 10 00 VO VO 



W 00 >0 VO 



M H-l 0) 



•9arnBJ9dui9 T 00 »OiO0 ^-sI-ioon 

=,«»5t=>A^ movo Hoooo (N ^ 
9x)BJ9Ay 



o 

fO 

ON 



o 

rO 



CO 'O 



00 

00 

VO 00 
10 M3 



to LO "^ 

^ On "^ 



•9881 



•sqiuoj\[ 
'9881 



10 VO 

VO VO 



O ON 00 
t^ VO VO 



00 kO '^ 
^ VO ^ 



u 



Oh rt 



s 






o 



9 -^ 



o 



Q 



o 



to 



00 

VO 



O 



27 



In the year 1888, the rain fall in San Jose was 60.841 
inches, which compared with that of the United States shows 
that, out of the sixty-seven principal places in the latter coun- 
try, only four of tiiem had a greater amount of water than 
the capital of Costa Rica, while the others have had as much 
as 51.05, corresponding to New Orleans, La. ; 44.43 New 
Haven, Conn. ; 42.18 St. Louis, Mo. ; 30.05 Detroit, Mich.; 
and as little as 9. 16, corresponding to San Diego, Cal. ; 6.12 
Fort Bridge, Utah ; and 6.1 1 Fort Garland, Col. 



XTbe people; 



The natives of Costa Rica are principally the descendants 
of the early Spanish settlers and conquerors, who came to this 
country in the latter half of the sixteenth century. They are 
son^ewhat above their neighboring nations in the arts of civili- 
zation, and can usually be depended upon as peaceful, law 
abiding and loyal citizens, and among them, the riotous and 
revolutionary elements so prevalent in the Latin States, are 
quite unknown. 

Costa Ricans are noted for their sobriety, simplicity, moral- 
ity and somewhat limited love of work. They are robust, 
healthy and long-lived. 

The prevailing language is like that of all Central America, 
Spanish, but English, German and French are spoken by 
many, and one would have little difficulty in traveling over the 
countiy without even a rudimentary knowledge of Spanish. 



*For more detailed information on this subject apply to, or address flftr. fRiCbacb 
VDillafranca, at the Cotton States and International Exposition until December 31, 1895; 
and thereafter at Typographic Department, Sackett & Wilhelms Lithographing Co. 
1 10 Fifth Ave. , New York. 

28 



There are several increasing colonies scattered oxer the coun- 
try, and they experience little vernacular annoyance in trans- 
acting business. Indeed, one can become familiar with a 
working knowledge df the native tongue in a verK'' short time. 

IRelioton, 

The Roman Catholic faith is the prevailing religion of the 
country, but the political institution is extremely liberal in this, 
as in all other matters. Persons of all creeds, and no creeds, 
are received with hearty good will. Several Protestant 
churches are thriving, and the greatest harmony exists in all 
communities, from the highest to the lowest social scale. 

public Unstruction, 

In Costa Rica education is making rapid strides. Public 
instruction is entirely in the hands of the National Govern- 
ment, and under the direct supervision of a special, minister. 
Primary education is compulsory and free. Every resident is 
entitled to the school privileges and can either give or receive 
instruction. 

The Hon. Dr. Pedro Perez Zeledon went to Europe with 
the special mission of studying the various systems of educa- 
tion, and to his efforts have been added the constant inves- 
tigations and personal visits made, both here and in Europe, 
by the noted gentleman, the Hon. Dr. Mauro Fernandez. 

The Minister of Public Instruction appreciated the great 
advantage in the methods of elementary tuition, made within 
recent 3^ears in the United States, and did me the honor to 
appoint me a delegate to study the American system of public 
instruction with a view to its adoption in Costa Rica. The 
Minister is at present using every endeavor to establish high 
grade schools, and adopting, as far as possible, the system in 
vogue in the United States and abroad. 

29 



The facilities for higher education have not been neglected, 
and the country boasts of a University, a Young Ladies' High 
School, a well regulated college, a promising school of agri- 
culture, and in addition to these are many private schools, and 
the Physico-Geographical and Meteorological Institution, sup- 
ported liberally by the government. The time is not very far 
distant when Costa Rica schools will be second to none in the 
world. 

mative Hbottoinee. 

Costa Rica, when compared with the South and Central 
American States, holds a position that is quite unique and 
envious in respect to its native Indians. Their numbers are 
few and their tribes are completely separated from the civilized- 
race. They are quiet and peaceable, looking upon the en- 
croaching civilization with an air of resignation, and honoring 
white men with almost a spirit of worship. 

The foreigners are not very numerous in proportion to the 
total population, but those that have selected homes in Costa 
Rica, have come to stay. Every industrious foreign family is 
doing well, and their friends are following them as rapidly as 
possible. 

Applications for land and special privileges have been re- 
ceived from families and colonies now struggling against the 
disadvantages of many of the western American states and 
territories ; more especially from people who have suffered 
through the droughts and other crop failures in Oklahoma^ 
Dakota, Nebraska and Montana. A representative of a very 
large colony is at present in Costa Rica, selecting land for 
people now in Oklahoma, who are preparing to emigrate to a 
more promising land. The following list, furnished by the 
Bureau of Statistics, of 1892, gives a fair idea of the actual 
proportion of foreigners : 

30 



List of Foreigners Residing in the Provinces of Costa Rica 

IN 1892. 

Provinces and Comarcas. 



< 





K 


c 


0. 


J 


s- 


22 


17 


6 


9 


7 


9 


160 


12 


9 


4 


42 


56 


15 


195 


10 


7 


I 


33 


33 


23 


132 


92 


24 


22 


446 


468 


128 


1,302 


2 


12 


— 


2 


7 


78 


204 


I 


2 


— 


— 


6 





.^8 



Central America. J? 

Guatelmala 90 

Salvador 57 

Honduras 25 

Nicaragua 122 

North America. 
United States .... 103 

Canada — 

Mexico 29 

South America. 

Colombia 173 39 15 — 37 479 69 812 

Venezuela 9 i — — — — — 10 

Ecuador 7 7 — — — 4 — 18 

Peru 6 I — — — — — 7 

Bolivia i — — — — — — i 

Chili 6 — — — — — — 6 

Argentina i — — — — — — i 

West Indies. 

Cuba 83 22 7 II 3 8 22 156 

Hayti — i — — — — — i 

Jamaica 63 6 16 5 i 2 541 734 

Porto Rico 18 — — — — — 28 46 

Europe, 

Spain 509 74 46 44 30 93 35 831 

Portugal — — — — — — 19 19 

France 124 12 13 i 6 21 12 189 

Germany 261 21 15 4 10 10 21 342 

Switzerland .... 20 7 i — — — — 28 

England 162 6 11 5 7 48 7 246 

Turkey 2 i — — — • — — 3 

Austria i i — — — — — 2 

Denmark 17 — — — — — — 17 

Holland 9 i — — — 2 — 20 

Italy 484 38 50 20 3 15 12 622 

Belgium 16 — — — — 8 2 26 



6 
I 
I 


II 


5 


7 


48 


7 


I 
38 


50 


20 


3 


2 

15 
8 


12 
2 


17 

I 


17 


15 


5 


26 


28 
2 



Russia 2 — — — — — — 2 

Asia. 

China 67 17 17 15 5 26 28 175 

Hindostan 19 i — — — — — 20 

Africa 12 — — — — — 2 14 

Oceanica 18 — — — — — — 18 



Total 2,156 395 262 138 634 1,293 1,051 6,: 

31 



The inexhaustable fertility of Costa Rican soil and the 
extremely favorable climate, that can be depended upon as 
constant, will for a long time make agriculture the principal 
occupation. It is, indeed, a coffee-growing country, but as 
the fields are worked, hundreds of other industries, which 
are accessory to agriculture, must also thrive. The ground 
is tilled, and the crops gathered in the most primitive way. 
Very few labor-saving machines have been introduced. The 
following tables show the present industries and their in- 
creased number since 1883 : 

INDUSTRIES IN THK REPUBLIC, 

FRO.M 1S83 TO 1893. 

Province of San Jose. 

Factokiks and Shops. 18S3. 1SS8. 1S90. 1892. 

Foundries 2 2 2 2 

Blacksmith Shop . . . . iH 25 27 25 

Gunsmiths 2 3 3 3 

Saw-mills 14 16 17 16 

Soap Factories ..... 3 5 5 5 

Printing 4 8 8 ,9 

Brick-yards 15 21 22 22 

Limekilns 3 7 8 7 

Sugar-mills 442 455 457 455 

Ice Houses i 2 2 2 

Coffee-mills 70 80 82 80 

Marble-yards i 1 i i 

Sculpturing i i i i 

Carpenter Shoi)s ..... 28 31 32 31 

Breweries i 2 4 3 

Distilleries i i i i 

Tailoring 25 25 26 25 

Tanneries 8 g ■ 9 9 

Shoe Factories 32 38 39 38 

Barber Shops ..,..13 17 18 17 

Saddle-makers 9 11 11 n 

Bakeries 20 22 . 21 22 

Drug-Stores 10 15 16 15 

Dyeing 3 5 5 5 

32 



Province of San Jose — Continued. 

Candle Factories .... 25 5 5 5 

Photographers i 2 3 3 

Hat Factories 2 o o o 

Bookbinderies r 3 4 4. 

Watchmakers 56 6 7 

Silversmiths 3 4 4 4 

Confectioneries o 5 5 5 

Flour-mills o i i i 

Silk-mills o i o o 

Cartridge Factories . . . o i i i 

'Fine" Brick-yards . . o 2 o o 

Furniture-makers . . . . o 5 5 5 

Lithographing o o o o 

Total 761 836 851 842 

Province of Heredia. 

Factories and Shops. 18S3. 1S88. 1890. [892. 

Blacksmith Shops .... 6 7 7 7 

Gunsmiths i — — — 

Saw-mills ..8 6 6 6 

Soap Factories i i i i 

Brickyards i 4 5 4 

Limekilns 5 — — i 

Coffee-mills 7 85 85 85 

Sugar-mills 54 59 59 59 

Carpenter Shops .... 14 37 37 37 

Tailoring 16 17 17 17 

Tanneries 9 5 5 5 

Shoe Shops 13 16 16 r6 

Barbershops 7 12 12 12 

Bakeries 5 3 3 3 

Drug Stores .7 9 9 9 

Dyeing i 2 2 2 

Candle-makers 5 — — — 

Watchmakers 2 3 3 3 

Silversmith 5 2 2 2 

Silk-mills — i i — 

Furniture-makers .... — i i i 

Saddle-makers — i i i 

Confectioneries — i i i 

Total 267 272 273 272 

33 



Province of Alajuela. 

Factories and Shops. 18S3. 1888. 

Blacksmith Shops ....11 11 

Gunsmiths i i 

Saw-mills 35 35 

Printing i i 

Brick-yards 29 29 

F.imekilns n 12 

Coffee-mills 69 75 

Sugar-mills 393 4^9 

Carpenter Shops .... 20 28 

Tailoring 13 13 

Tanneries 5 - 5 

Shoe Shops 13 ^7 

Barber Shops 6 9 

Saddle-makers 8 8 

Bakeries 4 7 

Drug Stores 16 16 

Dyeing i 5 

Candle-makers 10 — ■ 

Watch-makers 3 4 

Confectioneries — i 

Furniture-makers .... — 2 

Sculpturing — i 

Total 651 703 



IS90. 


1892. 


12 


II 


I 


I 


35 


35 


I 


I 


29 


29 


12 


12 


76 


75 


415 


418 


28 


28 


13 


13 


5 


5 


18 ■ 


17 


9 


9 


8 


8 


7 


7 


15 


16 


5 


5 


5 


5 


I 


I 


2 


2 


I 


I 



699 



700 



COMARCA OF LlMON 

Factories and Shots. 1.SS3. 

Founderies i 

Saw-mills 2 

Carpenter Shops .... 2 

Tailoring 2 

Tanneries 3 

Shoe Shops 2 

Barber Shops i 

Blacksmith Shops .... — 

Bakeries — 

Drug Stores — 

Sugar Machinery, etc . . — 

Total 13 20 

34 



1888. 


1890. 


1892. 


I 


I 


I 


3 


3 


3 


3 


3 


3 


3 


3 


3 


I 


I 


I 


3 


3 


3 


2 


2 


2 


I 


I 


2 


I 


I 


I 


I 


I 


I 


I 


— 


— 



19 



20 



1890. 


1S92, 


9 


9 


I 


I 


18 


18 


4 


3 


72 


92 


19 


19 


H 


14 


16 


16 


12 


12 


4 


4 


4 


4 


2 


2 


4 


4 


I 


I 


4 


4 


4 


4 



Province of Guanacaste. 

Factories and Shops. 1S83. 1888. 

Blacksmith Shops ....14 9 

Gunsmiths i i 

Brick-yards 17 18 

Limekilns 3 14 

Sugar-mills 70 72 

Carpenter Shops .... 22 19 

Tailoring 26 14 

Tanneries 17 16 

Shoe Shops 16 12 

Barber Shops 4 4 

Saddle-makers 4 4 

Bakeries 22 2 

Drug Stores 3 4 

Dyeing i i 

Silversmiths 6 4 

Candle Factories .... 40 — 

Saw-mills 3 4 

Total 269 188 188 

COMARCA OF PUNTARENAS. 

Factories and Shops. 1883. ^888. 

Blacksmith Shops .... 5 9 

Gunsmiths 2 2 

Saw-mills i i 

Brick-yards i 2 

Limekilns i i 

Ice Houses i i 

Coffee-mills 7 — 

Sugar-mills 11 19 

Carpenter Shops .... 8 15 

Tailoring 11 7 

Tanneries i — 

Shoe Factories 6 8 

Barber Shops ..... 2 6 

Bakeries 3 7 

Drug Stores 5 5 

Candle Factories . . . . i — — — 

Silversmiths 3 3 3 3 

Furniture makers .... — 2 2 2 

Dyeing — i i i 

Total 69 89 89 89 

35 



1 S90. 


1892. 


9 


9 


2 


2 


I 


I 


2 


2 


I 


I 


I 


I 


19 


19 


15 


15 


7 


7 


8 


8 


6 


6 


7 


7 


5 


5 



Province of Cartago. 

Factories and Shops. 1883. 1888. 1890. 1892. 

Blacksmith Shops .... 4 5 5 5 

Saw-mills 9 9 9 9 

Printing 2 i i — 

Brick-yards 54 34 34 34 

Limekilns 6 10 10 10 

Coffee-mills i 16 16 16 

Sugar-mills 41 55 55 55 

Carpenter Shops .... 5 8 8 8 

Breweries i i i i 

Tailoring 4 10 10 10 

Tanneries 7 3 3 3 

Shoe Factories 7 9 9 9 

Barber Shops 5 3 3 3 

Saddle-makers 2 5 5 5 

Bakeries 2 3 3 3 

Drug-Stores 8 8 8 8 

Dyeing i o o o 

Candle-makers 5 — — — 

Watchmakers 3 4 4 4 

Silversmiths 3 4 4 4 

Soap Factories — i i i 

Sculpturing — i i i 

Furniture-makers .... — 3 3 3 

Foundries — — — i 

Tot^l 169 193 193 193 

Zl^c (5ov>ernment. 

Since the proclamation issued in Guatemala on the memor- 
able 15th of September, 1821, declaring the absolute inde- 
pendence of Central America, Costa Rica has remained a rep- 
resentative Republic. The present Constitution was issued on 
the 7th of December, 1 87 1 . It guarantees notability of citi- 
zens and equality before the law. It asserts the right to hold 
property, permits liberty of thought, press and speech. The 
enjoyment of all these and other civil rights apphes to foreign- 
ers of all nations as well as the Costa Ricans. The whole 
Government is constructed more or less accurately, on the 
model of the United States. 

36 



The political struggles are at times threatened with corrup- 
tion, and finances are often as badly handled as by their more 
advanced comtemporaries — the New York and Chicago alder- 
m^h. Such sins, however, have prevailed everywhere, and 
are not confined to Costa Rica alone. The elections are on 
the whole characterized by calmness. There are no clearly- 
defined opposing parties, hence the conflict is usually more 
personal, but the terminations are quiet and .peaceful. 

An important item to foreigners is Article I2 of the Consti- 
tution, which says: " Foreigners enjoy within the Territory of 
the Nation all the civil rights of the citizen. They can practice 
industries and conduct their business, possess real estate, buy 
and sell it, navigate along the coasts or in the rivers, practice 
their religion, serve as witnesses, and marry according to law. 
They are not obliged to become naturalized, or to pay un- 
reasonable contributions." 

These privileges have always been faithfully granted. The 
Government is ever ready to support foreign efforts to de- 
velop the countr}^ and takes a warm interest in all new ven- 
tures introduced with honest objects. 

©ccupations* 

The individual trades, professions and numerous occupations 
are given in the table below. The significant fact about this 
table is the extremely small number of skilled workmen in 
proportion to the total population. Even many workmen here 
•enumerated are unskilled and incapable. The professional 
men, particularly the doctors, are entirely insufficient. There 
is about one doctor to 8,000 people, while in the United 
States we have one to every 800 of the population. 

This is perhaps an excellent argument in favor of the gen- 
eral healthfulness of the country, but more skilled medical 
men would find a field for really good scientific practice. 
There is here, indeed, a grand opportunity for Americans, all 

37 



of uhom the natives specially admire. Energetic tradesmen 
and scientific workingmen with a small capital are certain to 
find good openings, and lucrative practices are open to bright 
men of all professions. 



Apothecaries .... 

Architects 

Bachelors of Arts . . 

Bakers 

Barbers 

Beltmakers 

Bookbinders .... 

Brewers 

Butchers 

Carpenters and Cabi- 
netmakers .... 

Cartdrivers 

Cigarmakers (males 38, 
females, 488) . . . 

Clergymen 

Clerks, etc 

Coachmen 

Confectionists and Pas- 
try Cooks .... 

Cooks (males 30, fe- 
males 3,917) . ■ . 

Day laborers .... 

Dentists 

Divers ....... 

Doctors 

Dyers 

Engineers 

Farmers and landhold- 
ers 

Governesses .... 

Gunsmiths 

Hatmakers (males 219, 
females 292) . . . 

Horticulturists . . . 

Hotelkeepers . . . 

Jewelers 

Lawyers 



Occupations. 

44 Leather-dressers 



5 
193 
66 
67 
18 
10 

5 
268 

871 
1,924 

526 
119 

703 
29 

151 

3.947 
18,278 

7 
20 

25 

7 

13 



>479 

360 

10 

511 
8 

42 
12 
78 



Linen ironers . . . 
Marble-cutters . . 
Masons and stonecu 

ters 

Matmakers .... 
Mattress-makers 
Mechanics .... 
Merchants, commission 

men and bankers 
Milliners . . . 
Mine-owners . 
Muleteers . . 
Musicians . . 
Nurses . . 
Painters . . . 
Photographers 
Preceptors . . 
Printers . . . 
Public employes 
Sailors .... 
Sculptors . . 
Seamstresses . 
Servants (males 

females 112 
Shoemakers 
Silversmiths 
Smiths .... 
Soapmakers (mal 

females 112) 
Soldiers in service 
Students . . . 
Surveyors . . 
Tailors . . . 
Tinners . . . 
Washerwomen 
Woodcutters . 



30 



^S 



Hmueements* 

Costa Ricans have made it possible to mingle work and 
pleasure in the most delightful way. In the cities, amusement 
is often considered more important than business, and there 
the means of pleasurable recreation are abundant. In San 
Jose has been constructed a modern theater that is not 
equaled in Central America, and its grandeur in some respects 
rivals New York theaters. Many other theaters and places 
of amusement are scattered over the country wherever 
there is a sufficient population to support them. The natives 
are also patrons of fine art, and love music above all. There 
is a piano in nearly ever}^ well-regulated home, and great 
numbers gather daily in the parks to listen to excellent music 
<;ivenby the military bands. There is, indeed, an air of music, 
a vein of poetry, an element of romance and an effervescence of 
.sentiment wherever young people assemble, and the dark-eyed 
maidens are simply irresistable. 



flDeans of Communication/ 

Bvenuee of Il^ransportatton ant) Hpproiimate 
E5i9tancc5. 

From San Jose to 115 points in Costa Rica. 

SAN JOSE. .MILES. ROADS. 

Escazu 4>< Cart road 



7/2 



Santa Ana 

Pacaca 14 

Chile 18 " " 

San Pablo 30 Saddle road 

Santiago del Puriscal 24 Cart road 

Candelarita 30 Saddle road 

La Vibora 27 " 

Sapotal 27 4< <. 



*For more detailed information on this subject apply to, or address \ffl>r, 1R{cbar^ 
IDillafcanca, at the Cotton States and International E.xposition until December 31, 1S95 : 
and thereafter at Typographic Department, Sackett & Wilhelms Lithographing Co., 
no Fifth Ave., New York. 

39 



Avenues of Transportation and Approximate- 
Distances — Continued. 



SAN JOSE. 


MILES. 


ROADS. 


Curridabat 


3 


Railroad and cart roadi 


Guadalupe 


3 


Cart road 


San Vicente 


3 


" " 


San Isidro 


6 


<i «i 


San Jeronimo 


rA 


i> t( 


La Palma 


12 


'' " 


La LagTjna 


15 


It It 


La Boca del Infierno 


i8 


" " 


Carrillo 


25>^ 


It tt 


Limon 


98 


Railroad 


Boca del Toro 


160 


Navigation from Limoii 


Alajuelita 


3 


Cart road 


Desamparados 


3 


" " 


Tres Rios 


7 


Railroad and cart road. 


Cartago 


12 


It It .1, 


San Miguel 


4X 


Cart road 


San Cristobal 


12 


" " 


Los Frailes 


18 


Saddle road 


Las Cruces 


18 


" . " 


Bustamante 


21 


" " 


San Pablo Dota 


.27 


Cart road 


San Marcos 


30 


It It 


Santa Maria 


36 


u u 


Nueva Santa Maria 


60 


Saddle road 


Faquita 


75 


U 11 


Carrala 


123 


It it 


Boruca 


120 


l< <l 


Buenos Aires 


120 


" " 


Aserri 


6 


Cart road 


Tabarcia 


9 


" " 


San fgnacio 


12 


Saddle road 


Guaitil 


18 


" •' 


Sabanilla de Aserri 


24 


■' 


Pirris de Aserri 


30 


tt It 


La Laguna de Aserri 


io>^ 


" " 


Rosario 


12 


It t. 


Cangrejal 


24 


Cart road 


Cartago 


12 


Railroad and cart roaif 


Paraiso 


16X 


" 


Juan Vinas 


27 


tt u 


Orosi 


18 


Cart road 


Agua Caliente 


15 


Tramway and cart road 


Guatuzo 


25/^2 


Cart road 


Tucurrique 


36 


" " 


Chirripo 


42 


Saddle road 


San Miguel 


27 


t< tt 


Turrialba 


33 


Cart road 


Cot 


18 


tt 


San Cristobal 


24 


It 11 


Santo Domingo 


i% 


Railroad and cart road 


Heredia 


6 


11 it It 


San Joaquin 


9 


" 



40 



Avenues of Transportation and Approximate 
Distances — Continued. 



SAN JOSE. 


MILES. 


ROADS. 


Villa Barba 


9 


Cart road 


Carrizal 


12 


It t< 


Tambor 


•5 


" 


Vara Blanca 


30 


" " 


San Miguel 


42 


Saddle road 


San Ramon 


51 


" 


La Virgen 


54 


" " 


Chilamate 


60 


" " 


Muelle de Sarapique 


66 


" " 


Hacienda Vieja 


72 


Navigation 


Trinidad 


III 


" 


Villa Santa Barbarra 


12 


Cart road 


Alajuela 


12 


Railroad and cart road 


San Pedro de la Calabaza 


18 


Cart road 


Sabanilla 


18 


" 


San Rafael 


I9>^ 


" " 


Los ojos de agua 


18 


" " 


■Grecia 


24' 


(k <> 


San Roque 


27 


It ti 


Los Angeles 


27 


(t (( 


San Jeronimo 


30 


" " 


La Barranca 


25>^ 


11 (t 


Naranjo 


33 


" 


Sarcero 


40;^ 


" " 


Tapezco 


M'A 


tt <( 


Zapote 


45 


" " 


Buena Vista 


48 


" " 


La Cuesta Vieja 


54 


" " 


Peje 


60 


" " 


Muelle de San Carlos 


69 


Saddle road 


Estero Grande 


78 


Navigation 


Boca de San Carlos 


123 


•' 


Boca del Rio Frio (de Peje) 




Saddle road 


Sarchi 


3" 


Cart road 


Sahinos 


42 


'^ 


Atenas 


24 


" 


San Mateu 


36 


" 


Santo Domingu 


39 


" 


Esparta 


47 


" " 


Puntarenas 


60 


Railroad and cart road 


Bebedero 


132 


Navigation 


Las Canas 


139 


Cart road 


Bagaces 


147 


" " 


Liberia 


165 


" 11 ■ 


La Cruz (Front. Nicaragua) 


201 


Saddle road 


Filadelfia 


177 


Cart road 


Palmira 


180 


■' " 


Belen 


183 


" " 


Santa Cruz 


198 


" " 


Veintisiete de Abril 


209 


It t( 


Tempate 


213 


•' " 


Santa Rosa 


220 


" " 


.J^icoya 


213 


<> <« 



41 



IRatlroabs. 

The railway system of Costa Rica is being rapidly im- 
proved, and encouraged by the Government. All the lines 
will be the property of the State at the expiration of the time 
of each charter grant — 99 years. The principal road now 
operating is the Atlantic Railroad, of which the Government 
owns one-third of the stock ; an English syndicate, which now 
operates the road, controls the balance. 

The tracks of this road extend from the port of Limon on 
the Atlantic, westerly to Alajuela — a distance of 147^ miles. 
It has a branch which starts from a point about forty miles 
west of Port Limon, extends southward, and then westward 
until it reaches Carrillo, a place at the foot of the Irazu 
Mountain. 

The Pacific Railroad starts from Puntarenas on the Pacific 
Ocean, and extends eastward to the city of Esparta at the 
foot of the Aguacate Mountains, a distance of about fourteen 
miles. This is to be extended to Alajuela (30 miles). 
Here the two roads will meet, forming a complete Trans-Costa 
Rican railroad with many new, and nearly all modern facilities. 
This will, indeed, be a most beautiful and picturesque line, 
winding among towering mountains, and ploughing through 
the dense, tropical forests, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, in 
less than twenty-four hours. 

Alajuela is already connected with Heredia, which is also 
connected with Cartago, by means of a railroad spread 
over a distance of twenty-seven miles. This passes through 
San Jose, the capital of the country, and is an important part 
of the general system. 

Many new roads and branches have been proposed, some 
of which will be ready in a few years. One will have its 
tracks extending from a point where the San Jose & Carrillo 
Railroad crosses the Jimenez River and the Rio Frio, which 
empties into the San Juan River. There has been a long felt 

42 



want of prompt communication between Port Limon and the 
upper part of the San Juan country, and this railroad will 
furnish it. The far-reaching value of the road can hardly be 
appreciated by those not thoroughly familiar with the 
enormous extent and unlimited fertility of the land, previously 
neglected because of imperfect transportation. The road, 
further more, establishes every communication with the neigh- 
boring Republic Nicaragua. 

Aside from the railroads there are, in Costa Rica, very easy 
means of communication by way of paths, wagon roads and 
water ways. The following table shows the avenues of trans- 
portation by land, and a glance at the map will at once, indi- 
cate the many convenient water routes : 

^elcgrapb S)?9tem. 

All centers of population in the Republic are connected by 
wire with each other, and joined to the neighboring nations 
and the world in general by a most complete telegraph system. 
Costa Rica was first among Central American countries to have 
a telegraph service, and now has the cheapest rates ; a rate 
which is less than the prevailing price of wire service in the 
United States. Only twenty cents is charged for a message 
.sent to any part of Central America. We append here a list 
of the principal telegraph offices. 



TELEGRAPH OFFICES. 



San Jose 


Barba 


Liberia 


Asserri 


Santo Domingo 


Bebedero 


Desamparados 


San Antonio de Belen 


Bagaces 


Escasu 


Alajuelita 


Guasimal 


Santa Ana 


Grecia 


La Palma 


Pacaca 


Naranjo 


Las Canas 


Puriscal 


San Ramon 


Santa Cruz 


Cartago 


Palmares 


Filadelfia 


Juan Vinas 


Atenas 


Nicoya 


Paraiso 


San Mateo 


La Cruz 


La Union 


Puntarenas 


San Rafael 


Heredia 


Esparta 


Santa Barbara 



43 



The capital — San Jose — and the principal cities, have now 
a well-established telephone service. The Government entered 
into a contract with an American company and its extension 
throughout the whole Republic will soon be realized. 

^be postal Service* 

Mails. 

The mail service of the Republic is very good. Costa Rica 
is a member of the Universal Postal Union, and in 1890, 
there was completed a system of parcel delivery through the 
mails to the United States, which has become a very impor- 
tant aid to commerce, and a most valuable convenience ta 
citizens of both countries. The local service is modern and 
effective, and the foreign mails are sent and received as often 
as the present steamship lines call. 

There are nearly 100 post offices scattered over the Repub- 
lic which in the year 1890-91 handled 2,101,428 pieces . 
Below is a list of the most important offices : 



San Jose 

Escazu 

Asserri 

San Isidro 

Puriscal 

Alajuela 

Guaytil 

Juan Vinas 

Santo Domingo 

Santa Barbara 

San Rafael 

San Antonio 

Cartago 

Heredia 

Alajuela 

Grecia 

San Pedro 



LOCAL POST OFFICES. 

Puntarenas 

Atenas 

San Ramon 

Naranjo 

Sat. Carlos 

Quemados 

Carrillo 

Limon 

Bebedero 

Liberia 

Las Carias 

Sardinal 

Rivas 

Sta Cruz 

Nicoya 

Humo 

Baliena 



Old Harbor 

San Bernardo 

Terrabr, 

Boruca 

Esparta 

La Union 

Sta Maria Dota 

Jimenez 

Reventazon 

Siquirres 

Matina 

Palmares 

San Mateo 

Desmonte 

La Cruz 

San Joaquin 

Paraiso 



The Government is using every reasonable endeavor to 
improve the means of communication, but the foregoing 
chapter clearly shows that the system is already well estab- 
lished ; and Costa Rica can easily boast of its railroads, tele- 
graphs, telephones and mails. 



44 



Zbc 1lnter*»®ceanic Canals of tbe JTuture* 

The Costa Rica-Nicaragua and the Panama Canals are 
such important problems that the nations of the earth must, 
sooner or later, combine in determined efforts to complete 
them. Just at present the Nicaragua is in a fair way to be 
finished at an early date. All Costa Ricans hope for its suc- 
cessful construction by Americans and with an American capi- 
tal, for they are bitterly opposed to the grasping methods of 
the European nations. An intra-continental communication 
between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans is of such boundless 
importance to the world, that either one or both of these canals 
is an absolute necessity. 

Costa Rica, occupying almost exactly the territory between 
the two canals, with its shores washed by the two great oceans, 
will ere long reap the benefit of such an unparalleled natural 
position; this will be the final event which shall place Costa 
Rica among the most privileged of nations, and will make of 
her the " Gem of American Republics." 



Commerce. 



The onward march of commerce is far in advance of the 
increasing population. In 1850 the value of exportations and 
importations was about equal, and were each figured at about 
a million dollars. In 1893 Costa Rica exported products to 
the value of nearly ten million dollars and imported nearly 
six million dollars worth of goods. To understand the 
phenomenal development of commerce since 1883, we offer 
the following table which tells its own story. 



*For more detailed information on this subject apply to, or address /IDr. 1Ricbar^ 
Villafranca, at the Cotton States and International Exposition until December 31, 1895: 
and thereafter at Typographic Department, Sackett & Wilhelms Lithographing Co., 
no Fifth Ave., New York. 

45 









Surplus 


Surplus 


Years. 


Exportation. 


Importation. 


of 
Exportation. 


of 
Importatbn. 


1884 


$3,745,400 


$3,521,900 


$223,500 




•rsss 


2,535,500 


3,660,900 




$1,125,400 


1886 


2,257,600 


3,537,600 




1,280,000 


1887 


4,689,100 


5,601,200 




912,100 


1888 


4,052,300 


5,201,900 




1,149,600 


1889 


4,612,800 


6,306,400 




1,693,600 


1890 


6,664,700 


6,615,400 


49,300 




1891 


6,116,800 


8,351,000 




2,234,200 


1892 


4,725,900 


53,89,700 




663,800 


1893 


4,294,200 


5,833,400 




1,539, 200 




$43,694,300 


$54,019,400 


$272,800 


$10,597,900 



The trade, however, has been mostly with Europe. It be- 
hooves American merchants to study this question carefully. 
It can and must be changed very soon, because the maxim 
■' America for Americans " is becoming more and more a 
deep seated sentiment, and furthermore, it is not reasonable 
that merchants should send to the Old World for goods, and 
await their arrival for a period of months, when the American 
markets are more easy of access, while the means of com- 
munication are daily improving. The principal obstacle to 
American trade has been the higher rate of interest, shorter 
terms of credit and badly packed goods. 

The Europeans offer greater inducements to secure the busi- 
ness by making special goods for Spanish American markets, 
and keeping representatives moving over the territory ; matters 
which merchants of the United States have neglected. 

Imported and Exported. — The primitive condition of 
industry in Costa Rica is clearly shown by the following table, 
indicating the extensive importation of articles, most of which 
actually thrive better in Costa Rica, when properly cultivated, 
than elsewhere. It would take but a few years of scientific 
study and experiment to not only cultivate enough of these 
article.'' for the home market, but for profitable exportation. 

46 







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W=fe^ W^fe^ W^^= )4 ^m> W%^ M%* 



IRates of lEicbanoe. 

In the following table of exchange rates it will be seen that 
there has been a great and steady increase in recent years. 
This is due to the increased volume of importation and the 
payments on the national debt. It is, however, extremely 
favorable for intending settlers, since an American dollar in 
gold is worth at present about two and a half in the native 
currency. 



Exchange on London at Ninety Days' Sight. 



Years. 

869 

870 
S71 
872 

873 
874 

S75 
876 
877 
878 
879 
880 
881 
882 
883 
884 
885 
886 
887 



892 
893 



Maximum 


Rate 


Minimum Rate 


A ^_ 




of Exchange. 


of Exchange. 


Average K.aie 


10 


per cent. 


5 per cent. 


7P 


er cent. 


15 


c ( 




5 " 


9 


( ( 


10 


' ' 




7 


8 


" 


14 


" 




8 


12 


" 


14 


" 




8 


II 


" 


15 


1 < 




9 


12 




15 


( < 




8 


12 




18 


" 




12 " 


15 




10 


" 




5 " 


8 




12 


" 




5 " 


9 




16 


' ' 




5 


12 




19 


' ' 




12 " 


15 




19 


" 




isV^ " 


17 




24 


1 ( 




10 


18 




24 


' ' 




10 " 


17 




25 


' ' 




9 


18 




35 


' ' 




24 


30 




54 


' ' 




34 " 


42 




36 


" 




29 " 


33 




52 


' ' 




40 


41 




56 


' ' 




44 


51 




58 


< ( 




42 " 


51 




65 


' ' 




50 " 


58 




116 


' ' 




64 " 


95 




156 


' ' 




96 " 


124 





49 



National Bank 


Value of 


Value of 


Average 


Rate 


Years. Paper Money 


Importation 


Exportation 


in 




Issued. 


in Gold. 


in Gold. 


Exchange. 


1883 . 


$474,332 


$2,166,000 


$2,163,700 


17 per cent. 


1884 . 


752,828 


3,521,900 


3,745,400 


18 




1885 . 


1,365,178 


3,660,900 


2,535,500 


30 




1886 . 


1,295,866 


3,537,600 


2,257,600 


42 ' 




1887 .• 


2,059,927 


5,601,200 


4,689,100 


33 




1888 . 


2,462,844 


5,201,900 


4,052,300 


41 




1889 . 


2,999,438 


6,306,400 


4,612,800 


51 




1890 . 


3,832,452 


6,615,400 


6,664,700 


51 




1891 . 


4,074,728 


8,351,000 


6,116,800 


58 ' 




1892 . 


3,366,686 


5,389,700 


4,725,900 


95 ' 




1893 . 


4,186,267 


5,833,400 


4,294,200 


124 ' 





flatural IResources/ 

lprobuction6» 

The different altitudes of land and the consequent variety 
of temperature, the numerous rivers, the richness of the soil, 
the abundance of rain and sunshine, and the short distance 
that separates the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, all contribute 
to the extraordinary diversity of the vegetable products found 
in Costa Rica. Here, growing with equal facility, are found 
the fruits and the plants of both the Torrid and Temperate 
Zones. 

The mineral wealth that the country contains is so remark- 
able, the first discoverers of this territory bestowed upon it 
the name Costa Rica (Rich Coast), because of the rich de- 
posits of mineral matter found there. Equally noticeable are 
its vast fauna, the multitude of wild game, and the countless 
birds of rare plumage and melodious song. 

The species of birds already known amount to 692, but the 
names of these, and most of the animals, we shall omit for 
want of space in which to insert so numerous a hst. 



* For more detailed information on this subject apply to, or address /H>r. 1R^Cbar^ 
Willafranca, at the Cotton States and International Exposition until December 31, 1895; 
and thereafter at Typographic Department, Sackett & Wilhelms Lithographing Co., 
110 Filth Ave., New York. 



50 



(D oj <u (D a; 2J 



The following tables indicate the mineral and plant wealth 
of the country. 

flDinerals. 

dJ 

u- u, t, ul tn' -r3 

>,>.^>,>,>.>:>, c5 
in c^ c/5 c75 c^ c7i uo c75 oj 

'dTS'd'd'aTJ'd'a o^n^ cu ex, cu Cu cu 
'o'o'o'o'o'o'o'o g^-o o^&g^g^o' 

oooooooououuuuu 

> 



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51 



There are also found abundant deposits of quartz crystal in. 
San Ramon ; coal in Puriscal, Desamparados, Pacuare and 
Talamanca ; alabaster and alabastrita in Cartago ; granite, fine 
and ordinary, in Cartago and San Ramon ; white marble in 
San Ramon, San Marcos and San Lucas ; fine and ordinary 
clay in Cartago, Alajuela, San Marcos and Mora ; alum in 
Cartago ; fine and ordinary slate in Mora, and jasper in San 
Marcos. Many other minerals like silex, onyx, tophus, plas- 
ter, lapidary stone, sulphur, mercury, pumice stone, tripoli 
earth, ochres, fine and ordinary, etc., have also been dis- 
covered in different sections of the country. 

The mining industry of Costa Rica is lying dormant, only 
for the want of willing hands to awaken it into living, lux- 
urious existence. It is even now struggling through all sorts 
of difficulties, for the reasons given in all industries — want of 
labor, proper machinery, etc. It needs only these, and 
courage to resume the rank held by the country in this respect 
when it was discovered by Christopher Columbus. " Up to 
1890, the gold mines of Aguacate alone had yielded about 
17,000,000." 

flDineral Springe. 

Almost everywhere throughout the country mineral and 
thermal waters are found. The most celebrated are those of 
Agua Caliente, about five miles from the city of Cartago, for 
the exploration of which a stock company has been formed 
under the name of " Bella- Vista Company." This society has 
has erected a magnificent building, which fills all the require- 
ments of a bathing establishment responding to modern exi- 
gencies, and of a hotel affording all desirable comforts to in- 
valids or travelers. The analysis of the water of Agua 
Caliente made by the chemist, Dr. C. F. Chandler, of 
Columbia College, New York, in 1887, gave the following 
results : 



52 



Sodium chloride . 

Bicarb, lithium 
'* sodium 
" magnesium 
" calcium 
* ' barium 
" strontium 
" iron . . . 
' ' copper 
' ' manganese 

Sulphate potassium 
' ' sodium . 

Phosphate sodium 

Biborate " 

Arsenite ' ' 

Alumina " 

Silica ' ' 

Organic matter 



61.2922 

Traces 

15.1568 

13.0165 

56.0627 

0.2624 

Traces 

1.3588 

Traces 

Traces 

2.5775 
37.7258 
0.1 108 
1.7669 
Traces 
o. 11 66 

3.6157 
Traces 



Total 193.0627 

(Signed) C. F, Chandler, Ph. D. 

The figures given represent grains, and the analysis was 
made fi"om the quantity of water to a gallon of the United 
States, which contains 231 cubic inches. There exist mineral 
springs in many other localities. Those most resembling 
Agua Caliente are those of Orosi, in the same neighborhood 
as the former, and those of Salitral, near San Jose. 

"^eeful ant) ©rnamcntal Moobs. 

Rare qualities of useful woods are found in every part of 
Costa Rica. For hardness, unique shades and durability, 
these rival the world, and as the resources of the country are 
developed, the avenues of transportation improved and the 
railroads extended, the woods will yield a golden harvest. 

The list given below comprises only the more important 
trees known at present, and the crosses indicate the districts 
in which they thrive. 



53 



Building and Cabinet 
Woods. 



J Z 



Area 4 

Almendra + ■••+•• ■ 

Aguacatillo + • ■ -! — h 

" blancf> + • 

Albahaguilla,* + ■ + 

Aguacate + . 

Anonillo 

Amanllo 

Azaharillo 

Brasil + • . • H-r +++ • • ■ i" ■ 

" nacar + . 

Balsa 



+ . +++++ • • + 



+ 



+ 



+ 



+ 



+ 



. . .+ 



+ 



+ 



+ 



Balsamo negro . . 

Batea 

Corteza amarilUi -' . 

" blaiica . . 

" negra * . . 

" de venado ..+ ..+ 

Cortes 

Corteza ++ . . . . + . H 

Cedro amargo " .... H — [-++ . H — I — h . + . . +H — h . . -f . . . -f . . . + . 

" duke* ++++++++++++++++++ +++.+++.+ 

" pachote . . . . + + . +++ ... + . + ... 

Caoba * + . . +++ . . ++++++ ++++ . + + 

" nacar * + 

Cristobal * + . . +++ . + .+ . + . . + + 

Cocobola * +-f ... + .-. ++ -'- . .+ . + . + . . 

nambar -..+ ...+ + + ..++.+ •■ + 

Chaparro + + + 

Chirraca * + .. + .. + .++ + 

Cucaracho + 

Cerillo + 

Copalchisillo ...;....+ 

Cherr^ * ++ 

Cocora + . 

Cascarillo -j- . . . 

Coquito +H — 1- 

Cacique + • + 

Cacho de venado -j- 

Cachimbo + 

Canela * + • ■ ■ ■ 

Come negro + ■ ■ • + 

Copalchi + . + ■ 

Chancho + ■ 

Capulin + 



.++ 



+ 



+ 



■ + 



. .+ . 
++++ 



+ 



Chilamate 

Campana + • ■ 

Carboneillo * + 



+ 



-+ . 



♦Cabinet woods. 



54 









in 
O 
























O 


Is 






















— 


~ 


— 


Building and Cabinet 
Woods — Continued. 


■JU 

o 

■— 1 
c 


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o 


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2 


3 


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E 




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2 
1 


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11) 


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c 


-5 
1) 

(U 


i 


1 

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o 


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cd 

m 




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1 


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in 


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c 


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3 

Q 


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a, 


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in 


o 



Candelilla 
Caragra 
Cuerecillo 
Chilillo . , 



+ 
+ 



+ 



Curd 

Cerro 

Culantrillo 

Chaperno 

Carao macho + 

Ceiba 



+- 
+ 
+ 



+ 



Caimito 

Cuajada 

Danto 

" amarillo . . 

" bianco 

Encino -f 

Espabey 

Espino Colorado .... 

" agudo 

" bianco 

Estaquilla 

Ebano 



+ 



++ 



- + 
+ 



+ 



+ 



+ 



+ 



+ 
+ 



++ 



+ 

+ 



+ 



I'Vijolillo + 

Guapinol ..+ ... +H — | — h 

Guayabo * + -\- + . . . . 

Guayabillo * + ... + . ++ . -h • • ++ . - + +++ I 

Guacimo * + + + + 

Guachipelin +++++++ . +++ • ++ - -i-+ . + . -{-++ • - ++ . - 

Guanacaste -\ — | — f- .... + + + .. 

Guayacan * + ++ ++.++.++ f- 

" bianco + ........ 

Granadillo* ++ + . + • +++ . - 

Guiscoyol + 

Genisaro + + ..... -|- ■ - 

Guaitil ++ 

Golondrina + . 



Haya 



+ 



+ 



Huitilimon . 

Huitimonte + 

Hinchador + 

Ira Colorado +++ . ++++ ....+ .. +++ 

" bianco + .. + . + ...+ ....+ .... + 

" amarillo ++..++..++..++.' 

" rosa ++ . + . ++++ . . . +++ . + 

" mangle ++ . + + 

Jadl + ...... 

Jocote-fraile '■ • + 

Lechilla + + 



*CaLiinet woods. 



55 



Building and Cabinet 
Woods — Continued. 



coiO 



wl 









Lorito ..... 
Lloron * . . . . 
Lagarto .... 
Lagartillo-negro 
Loro-negro * . 
Laurel* .... 
Lantisco .... 
Limoncillo . . . 

Llayo 

Maria 

Mariquita .... 
Madera negro 

" hierro . . . 

Madero 

Madrono 

Murta 

Moral * 

Melon * 

Muneca 

Maranon 

Mangle 

Nispero* 

Nance 

Naranjo de monte . 

Ojoche 

Ocora 

Pochote 

Piche 

Pocora 

Papa * 

Palo frio 

" azul 

Plomillo 

Pisco 

Pappaturro negro * 

Poroporo 

Peiiie de mico . . 
Quizarrd 

" negro* . 

" amarillo * 

" barcino . 

" cacho . . 

" clavo . . 
Quizarracillo . . . 

Quina 

Quiebra hacha * . 

Roble * 

" negro . . . 



+ + . . . 

++ . . + . + . . + 
. . . + . . + . ++ 



+. .++ . .+ . 
.+ 



+ . .+ . .+ . .+ 



+ . 
+ 



+ 



+ 



++ . +++++ 



+ 



.+.++. +++ 



+ 



+++ 



+ . .+ 



. +++ . ++ 
+ 

-++ . + . +++- 



+ 



+ 



+++ 



. + . ++ + 






+ 



+ 
+ 



+ 



+ . . .+ . ... 

++ 

. ++ . . . ++++++ 

. . . +++ 

+ 



+ 



+ .+ 



+ 



+ 



+■ 



. . .+ .+ 

+++++ . 



+ . . . 

++++ 
.+ 



+ 

++ .' .' ++ 



+ 



+ 
+ 



+ . + 



++ 



+ 



+ 



+ 



+ 
+ 



+ 



+ 



+4- . .+ 



+- 
+ .+ 



+ .+ 
+ 






+ 



+ 



+++ .+ 



+ 



+ 



+ . ++++ . + 



+ 



.+ . .+ 



+ 



+ 



.-f+ 



+ ++ 



+ . +++ . + + . . . -f 

. . + + .++. + . + . .+ 

+.+.++. ++++ . +++ . + . + 
+ . + . . . -*-- f 



♦Cabinet woods. 



56 





— 


— 


o 


— 










— 


— 








— 


o 


ci 
































TJ 
























;_; 
























OJ 










rt 


























^ 










































































rt ^ 








Building and Cabinet 


>4J 






"5 






rt 


H 




6 






rt 




o 
Q 
o 




^ 


o 


p 


o 






ui 


ic 


c 




Q 
,o 




Woods — Continued. 


o 


>3 


5 


u 


d 


(LI 

3 


OS 


.2 


S 


ra 


S 




f^" 


« 


^ 


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0) 




c 
c 




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cd 
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5 


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3 



Roble enema + . . . + 

" amarillo + . . . 

Ronron * + . . +++ . + . + .++.+ . . . + . +++ . 

Recina + 



++ 



+ .+ 



+ +- 



Raton 

Sizzi* 

Sahino + • 

Sanjuanillo * -| — [- + 

Santa Rosa + . 

Surd 



-f+ . ++ 



++ + 



. + .+ 



+ 



+ 



+ 



Sierrilla + 

Siete cueros . . . ' -I — h 

Sayo 



+ 



Sandalo 

Tirrd + ...+ .++..+ +++ 

Tiquizzirri + + + ■•• + 

TubiSs 



+ .+ 



+ 



Tucuico + 

Treshuevos * + 

Titora 



+ 



Tempisque , + 

Tamarindo + 

Uruca + 



+ 



+ 



+ 



Vainilla 

Venado + ■ 

Venecunco + 

Yoz + . . . + + + . 



Yas . . . 
Yuguilla 
Yambaro . 
Zapotillo . 
Zopilotillo 
Zorrillo . . 



+ 
+ 



+ 



++ 



+ 



+ 



+ 



+ 



+ + 



+++ . 



+ 



+ 



Zapote mico + 



♦Cabinet woods. 



flDcMcal an^ iS)lca9inou6 ipiants. 

These are principally the result of indigenous or spontaneous growth, 
a part of the local flora, and with scientific care and intelligent indus- 
try will always be a pregnant source of revenue. 

The following list indicates the habitat of each plant mentioned : 



57 



Medical Plants. 



2 ' S 



W,Q 



Oi^ 



<3i ,.2 



Oc,!-] 



'^cedera / + . . . . .+ ..+ . . + . + . ++++ . 

Achicoria + .. f .++..+ . . +++ . +-4- + + . 

Agrd + ....++ + . . +^ . + . . 

Aguacate + + + ...+ .... 

Ajenjo + ....++.. ++++H- . . +++ . + 



+ 



+ 



+ 



Ajo 

Albahaca + . . . . . + + .. . . + ■ ■ + f . 

Alcotan + . 

Amapola + . -|- ...-(- + . . . H — h . + . + • 

Anisillo + + + ... ++++ . + 

Anono 



+ 



+ 



+ 



Apasote + . + • • ++ • ■ + • +++ 

Aromo + + H — h . • . + ■ 

Artemisa + • • ++++ • • + . • + . ++++ + 

Azahar de monte + + 

Alacran + . . . + 

Agarico bianco + 

" negro -|- 

Azafran -)- 

Aloe 



f + 



+ 
+ 



+ 



Aconito -(- 

Arnica -|-~|- 

Albarrana + 

Asta de ciervu + 

Aceituna -\- 

Azuceiia + . . . 

Adormidera , + . . 

Avellana -|- 

Anacahuita 

Alerojo 



Albahaca de anis r-j_ 

Almendro -j- 

Balsamito -(- |- 

Balsamo de Tolu + . . . -| — |- ..+ ■••.+ -(--i- . . 

" " Peru -f- -|-4- . '. 

Barbasco + • • ■ + 



Bodoque 
Borraja . 
Betivir . 



+ 



++++++++++++ 



+ . ++ 



+ + 



Balsamo de Brasil 

Bitamo 

Belladona . . . 
Beleno 



+ 



+ 
+ 



++ 
+ 



++ 



+ .+ 



Bijaroo • ... + .. 

Berro -(- 

Bijagua -\- 

Balsamo negro 

Bicho 

Conchalagua + . . . . f . . .1 

Canela 

58 



++ . +++++ 



Medical Plants. 
Continued. 



L.ana agna .... 

' fistula 

papitaneja 

iCarao 

parboncillo ■ • • 
Cardosanto amarillo 
" bianco 

Carvalla 

Cedron 

Cerraja 

China 



+++ 



++ . ++++- 

+ 



+ 



+ 



■. .+. .+. 

+ . . +■+ + + 
i- . . + 
++ -I- . ++ 
. + 



+ 
+ 



+ . -V 



+ 
+ 



+ + 
++ 



++++ 
+ . .+ 



+ 



+ 



+ 



-f 



+ 



+ . 
++ 
+ . 



+ 



+ 



+ 



H- 



+ 
+ 



+ . 
++- 



Chipilin 

Chirraca + . + . + ++ . 

Cola..dealacran + ■ • 

Contra yerba -!-. + .. + . + ■• 

Copal + . + ...+ . -f+ . 

Copalchi + . + .:■■• -+-++ i- +++ 

Copey + . . r +-*- . -j- ■ . • • 

Corralillo + 

Cucuhneca 

Culantrillo + . + • • +++ • • • • ^r f - +++++ 

Chicasquil t- ..... + 

Culantro coyote .... + + + ■ + • -| — h ■ 

Cardon + ; " "^ 

Cordoncillo + + ■ ■ 

Carana + .. + + 

Coloquintida + + ' 

Cebada + . + .... + ++ . 

Copaiba H — (- 

Cerillo + 

Cedril + 

Coco + 



+ . . 

. .+ 

+++ 

++ . 



+ 



.+ . 
+ .+ 



+ 



+ 



++ 
+ . 



+ 



+ 



+ 



Cativo -| — h 



++ 



Coyol f- • 

Capsico + • 

Cornizuelo de centeno + . 

Contra veneno + 

Chan + 



+ 



Cuasia + 

Cuasquite + 

Capitana 



+ 



+ 



Chile de perro + 

Camibar + 

Cominillo + 

Cristalillo 

Caucho 

Calabazas 

Chiquite 

ChiquizA 

Cebadilla 

59 



+ 



+ 



++.++ 



-h 



+ 
+ 



++ 
+ . 



Medical Plants. 
Continued. 



+ 



Corrimiento -\ — \- 

Coroso + . . . . 

Clavelina + . . 

Cuerno de ciervo + . . . . 

Cero + . 

Coquillo * + 

Chasmol -j- 

Cebovejetal . . + 

Doradilla + . . . ++++• • + ■ +++++++++ • - + 

Duerme muela 

Dijital ++ + 

Dormilona + + 



Dragon 



+ 



++++ 
-+ ■ . . 



Eneldo + + ++ . 

Escoba blanca . . . . + . .+ . . + . .+ . .+ . . 

" de castilla ... + + + + 

" negra .... + ..+ .. + _!_..++....+ 

" de Sn Pedro . + 

Escobilla + .... + . + ... + . ++ + . 

Escorsoneda + . . . ++ + •• + ■ + •• 



+ 



Eucaliptu 

Estoraque + . . --(--f 

Espinillo . 
Estramonio 
Frailecillo 
Francesa . 



+ 



+ 



+ 
+ 



++ 



+ . .+ 



Florifundia + 

Frijolillo 

Golondrina + • 

Guaco + . . . +++ + + . 



+ 



+ 



Guapinol .... 

Guarumo + -f + .... 

Guizaro -f -f -!-■•--(- 

Guitite + -I- . . . . +-f+ . . 4- 



+ 



4- . 



+ 



Garrapatilla + . .-[-■ + • + ■ + 

Guayaca -\- 

Gomalaca -|- 

Guaria + 



+ 



Granada 

Giiis-coyol -j- 

Guacuco -(- 

Grama morada 4- . 

Gavilana -)- 

Higurilla blanca ... + ... + . + ++ . .4-. . . .-f' + ' + ^ ■ -\- 

" colorada .. + ... + . + -f-|- ..4-....-|-,-i- 

Hieuero . . 4- 



+ - 



Hinojo -{- . 

Hoja del baso .... + ■ 

" de Estrella + + 

" del milagro . . . + . . . . -f-|- . 



++ . . 4-+++ 



4- 



+ 
+ 



+ . 
++ 



++ 



60 



Medical Plants. 
Cunlinued. 







S 
























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-1 




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iT. 


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+ 



Hoja de poro + . . . 

" sen ++...++ ++..++.+ 

" del aire H — H -f 

" " guaco + + 

" " corazon + 

Hombregrande ++ . . . ++++ + .. + .. 

Hule ++ + . + 

Hongos H — h 

Helecho macho + H — |- + 

Holatillo 



+ 



Kuitirre . 
Ipecacuana 
Itabo . . . 
(avilla 



+ . . . 



+ 



+ 



Jengibre + . + . + .++. ++++++ . . ++ • • + . . . + . 

Jenocuabe -j- ■ • + ■ ++ .... H — f- . . . + 

Juanislama + • • ■ • H — h . + ■ - + • - ■ -\ — h • + ■ -+ 

Jalapa + + + 



jaral + 

Jinote 

Jocote 

Lechilla + ...+ .. 

Lengua de ciervo + 

" de vaca .... + + • • 

Llanten + ..+ .. + .++..+ ••. ++ + 

Linaza + . + ....-f + 



++ . .+ 



+ 



+ 



Liquidambar + 

Limoncillo + 

Limon + -j- 

Lirio del valle + 

Lechuga 



+ 



Lagarto 

Lombricera f 

Leche de vaca 4- 

Malva +++ . + . + .++. +++++++++ . + . + . ++++ 

Manzanilla +++ . + +++ . +++ + +++ . . + 

Maraiion -f + + ■■ 4-.-. 

Matasano . 
Mechoacan 



+ 



-++ .+ 



Mejovana + 

Morera + 

Mozotedecaballo . . . +++++ . -f . . + . +++++++ . + . + 
Mostaza + 4 .. + ... + 



+ +.+ 
- . .+ 



Manfi + • 

Menta + ■ 

Mastuerzo . . . • + . 

Maria + - 

Mora f 

Melisa 

Mais Negro 



+ 



6i 



Medical Plants. 
Continued. 



t55 w 



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1 rt ,.2 


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Maravilla . , 
ivlalacagiiite 
Melosa . . , 



+ 



+ 
+ 



Matiar .... 
Mastranto . . 
Masquitaguiste 
Maquenque . . 
Nacasacolo . . 
Naguapate . . 
Naranjo Agris 



+ 



5J; 



.+ 



+ . + . 



+ . 
f+ 



+ 



+ ++ 



angu 



Oregano + 

Oroziis + 

Ortiga 



+ 

-I- 

+ 



++ 
+ . 



■f+ + 



+ 



Ojo de Pajaro 
Olotillo . . . 
Ocote . . . . 
Opis .... 
Papelillo . . 
Platanillo . . 



+ 



+ 



+ 



+ 



Pilo 

Polypondium H — h 

Polipor de Gviilite + . 

Poroporo +++ ■ 

Palmik 



H-+ 



++ 



++ 



lera 



+ 



Parrua .... 

Por6 

Policaria .... 
Pichichin . . . 
Pipapica . . . 
Pico de Pajaro 
Pimiento . . . 
Pontespate . . 
Perejil .... 
Pepermen . . . 
Peine de Mico 
Panama .... 



+ 

+ 



+ 



+ 



+ 



+ . 
++ 
+ . 



+ 



+ 



+ 



+ 



++ 



+ 



+ 



Pechote + 

Palo-Conejo -|- . 

Palma de Yolillo i- 

Purga de Fraile + 

Quina + ++.... + . + ... -^- ... + 

Ouitirri 



+ 



+ 



+ 



Qui^bra muela 

Quita calzon 

Raiz de china + 

" " mora . . ■ + + 

Reina de la noche . . . + + - + • H — V .. + ... 

Romero +++ . . . + . + . ++++ • ++ • • + 

Reida + + + . . . + . ++ . . ++++++++ 

62 



+ 










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Medical Plants. 


•m 




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H 














1 rt 


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RuiDarbo 
Rudilla . . 
Raspa guacal 
Rosa .... 



+ .+ 



+- 



-+ .+- 



•++ . 



+ 



-h 



" de castilla + . . . 

" t^ + . . . 

Rabo de puerco -|- . 

Raicesilla + 

Ruibarbo panzon -j- 

Salvia + . .^. +++. + . .+++. . .++.+ + 

Sagii + 



+ 



+++ 



San Antonio . . . 

San Diego -f 

San Carlos + + 

Sanco_ + .... + .++...++.++.. + .. 

Sensitiva + + + + •• 

Sontol + 



++ 



Suelda con suelda 
Simaruda .... 
Sanguinaria . . 
Sierra de gallo . 
Saragundi . . . 
Sl^mprevia . . . 
Sotacaballo . . . 
Savila 



+ 
+ 



+ 



+ 



+ 



+ 



+ 



+ 



Sandal .... 
Semicontra . . 
Sana luego . . 
Sangre amarilla 
Talcacao . . . 
Tamarindo . . 
Tapate .... 
Tuete .... 

Toro 

Tragacanto . . 

T6 

Targda .... 
Tucila .... 
Tacaco .... 



+ 



-f 



+ .+ 



+ 



+++ . + 



+- 



+ 



+ 



+ 



+ 



++ . .++ . 
++ . . + . . 



+ 



+ . + 



+ 



+ 



+ 



+ 



Tuna + . . . + 

Tiquilote + 

Tremenlina -f- 

Una de gate 

Urtica + 



Valeriana ++ 

Vainilla ++ -f . 

Verbena + ■ + • + . ++ ■ 

Vermut 6 absent H- . . . . + + 

Viborana -f--|--|---4- 

Verdolaga -j- 



+ 



+ 



+ + . 



+ 



+ . -f 



+ 



+ 



63 



Medical Plants. 


•V 












< 


o 

F 




d 

2 
2 




d 

4) 






o 

.s 

E 

o 




(U 












P 




10 


0) 




"3 
Q 

O 




Continued. 


c 

ni 

in 


>3 


E 
Q 


a 

u 

'u 

3 
Cl, 


< 


5 


U2 


'o 
u 

O 


nl 

c 
(P 

•< 


01 


■5 


ni 

U 

a 
aa 


Q 



5 


m 






d .i! 

2 ^ 


.2 


o' 
o 


O 

K 
C 

a 
■Ji 




in 

nl 


K 

C 

3 
CL, 


■c 




E 



Varilla negra 
Violeta . . . 



+ 



+ . .+ 



+ 



Vainilla negra 

Yazd + 

Yerba-buena -i — | — \- . 

" cacao 

" culebra 4- 

" del pesar -| — )- 

" santa -f . . . + -f- 

" mora -|-f , . . ++ . . + • ++ 

" t6 



+++++++++ . +++ . 



■ + . 



+ 
+ 



+ 



+ 



+ 



+ 



tinta 

' " tora 

" del viejo 

" chau 

" escudilla 

Zacate de limon .... + .... 

" de olor 

2^rzaparrilla + . + . . + .4-. \--\ — (--f -| ( (- 

Zorrillo + -'r . . . '. '. ++ . . +++ . 



+ . + 



++ 



+ 



+.++.+ 



+ 



+ 



+ 



+ 



. ++ . . + 



S)^e llMant0. 

The products from which dye stuffs are made are of an excellent ^ 
quaUty. The plants are numerous and thrived in the districts indidated 
below. 



Dyk Plants. 



Achote 
Almendro 
Anil . . . 
Azul . . . 
Achiotillo 
Aromo 
Brasil . . 
Carao . . 
Capulin 



o 2: 







ca 




c 




CU 
















c 


a 


3 




Oi 


W 



2 Q 



+ 



+ . ++ . . . +++ . . ++ . + 



+ 
+ 



+ +.+ 



+ 



+++ 



+ .+ + 



-f 



+ . .+ 



+ .++.+ 



Carmin 
Cebollin . 

Coloradito 

Elequeme -f- 



+++ . . +++ 



+ . +++ . +++++ 



+ .4- 



+ 



64 



Dye Plants — Continued. 







o 
























o 


H 




























■n 


























nl 




























n1 

























"^ 


-D 


• 










K 




rr 











-6 


ci! 


o 


'^ 


re 


re 


c 
re 


i 


6 


re 


re 

5 


re 


5 
o 


re 
re 


V 

re 

re 


o 
re 


d 


1-2 

5 u 


re 

6' 


_3 
O 


. re 


re 
re 


re 


"3 
Q 


c 
o 










o 




= 1 « t: 






X 








r. 








.M en 








a: 


W 


a 


CL, 


< 


< 


re 


o,^ 


< 


Xi 


re 
K 


■f^ 


re 


re 
C/3 


•J 


a, 


J, J 


^; 


re 


rt 1 re 


3 


W 


o 

O 


2 



Encino bianco H — I — 1-+ .. + + • + • 

Encino Colorado ...+ .... + -(-... 

Fruta de agra + . 

Guacharo 

Grana 



+ 



+ 



Guaitil ++ 

Jiquilite + . . . ++ . . + 

'aboncillo H — f- . . H — (- + 

agua -I- 



-+ .+ 



fi 



angle . . 
Mercolina 
Moral . . 
Moran . . 
Nacascolo 
Nan cite 
Nance . . 



. + . . 
. + .+ 



++ 



+ .4- 
. + . 



+ 



+ 



+ + 

. + .++. ++^- . 
+ 



+ 



+ 



+ 



+ . .+ . .+ 



+ . + .+ 



+ 



+ 



+ 
+ 



++ . . + . . . + 
++ . +++ . 
+ 



+ 



+ 



+ 



+ .+ 
. .+ 



Ojo de buey . . 

Parriia 

Pavel 

Palo amarillo 

Ratoi.rillo + 

Sanguinaria +++ -. ■ ■+ + . . + . + .+ 

Sangre de drago . . . + + . . . 

Sanjuanillo + + 

Saca-tinta +++ . . ++ . . . . .++.++. . .++.++. +++ 

Targua Colorado ... + + + •• H — h + - 

Timor + .. + .. + .. .^. ... ++ 

Tucuico + + 

Una de gato + 

Ubita . . ; + . 

Viborana + . . . + 

Vainilla + 

i Verba tinta + 

Yuqnilla + . + . + . + • • • . + .++. + . + . + + . . 

Verba mora + 



XEeitilc ipiants. 

After further investigation and experiment, it will probably be found 
that there are few textile plants at present cultivated in any part of the 
world, that cannot be made to yield profitable results in some parts of 
Costa Rica. 

Below is a list of those at present best known, and the cros.ses 
indicate the di.stricts in which they thrive. 

65 









d 
























O 

c 


■^ 1 


























Tkxtile Plants. 


6 






k! 






c: 


5 

E 




6 




o 


s 




5 

D 




o 
u 


d 


5 


nf 




3 


V 


n1 


c 


d 


"5 

n 






rt 








« 




si 




« 


a 


^ 


£ 


rt 


o 


rt'a; 




- 




o' 






U 


t« 


rt 


,o 













V- 


<1J 


O 






a; 


2i; 




r, 


V 

X 




c 


c c 










<J 


u 


















4 


a 


£ 


< 


•< 







< 


C/3 


03 


en 




U 


Cl, 


J 


J 


2: 


a: 

ifi 




J 


a, 


W 


o 


J 



)don 



Algoc 
Agrd .... 
Anono . . . 
Balsa .... 
Rarrigona 
liurio ... 
Bejuco real6 
Euriogre . . 
Balsamo . . 
Ceiba . . . 
Coco .... 



+ 



+ 



+ 



+ .+ 



+ 



+ 



+++ . ■ ++ + . ++ + . +++ . 

+ ++...+ 

^+++++++++++4-++ . . . + . + . ^4■ 



+++++ 
.+ 



+ 



+ 



+ 



+ 



+ 



■ ■++.'■ 
+ . + .+.■: 



Cabrilla .... 

Cabuya +++ ■ +++++++ • +++ - ++++ • +++ • ++4f 

Cola de gallo -f 

Coral 



+ 



+ 



+ 



C^namo 

Chonta 

Chirrabaca + 

Cucharilla + 

lin 



+ 



Capuli 
Coyol 

Escobilla blanca ' . + + . . . 

Enca de junco + 

Escalera de mice 

Guarumo 



+ 



4 



+ 



+ 



Guasimo 
Itabo . . 
I unco 
Juc6 



+ 






. .++ 

. -1- .+ 
++ - +- 



+ 



+■ 



-I- 



Linaza 

Lino 

Maguey .... 
Mastate .... 
Majagua .... 

Alozote 

" de caballo 

Palma 

Pita 

Pinuela 

Pina 

Platano .... 
Pochote .... 

Patarrd 

Palmito .... 
Peta floja .... 
Paja 



+ 



. +++ . + 



+ . + 



. . ++ .■ 



+++ . . +++ . . + . +++++ 

+ . .++.++.+. . ++++ ..++... 

.+ .... + ' . + . + 

. . + - 

+ + 

. .++ + -\ 

++++++++++++ . . ++ . +++ . + . +4-4 
+++ . . +++ . + . ++++++++++ . . +++++ . 

+++ . . ++ . . . ++++++ +++ . 

+++ . + ++ . +++ . + . + . . . . ++ 



+ 



+ 



+ 



++• • 



+ 



+ 



+ 



Palo de jabon • + . • 

Peine de mico + . 

Palmiche + 

Palma real -j- 



66 



Textile Plants. 
Continued. 







s^ 
























o 

b/) 


CS 


























T3 
























e 


rrt 


























re 










o 








o 

V 






g 




T) 












H 






a 


o 

1—1 




s 




'C 


rt 


a 

% 


til 


'o 


5 


c! 


'■3 


n 


o 
D 
o 






d 


ft 




n' 




ta 


U 


5 




P) 


i; 


(U 


o 


CC' 






rt 


0) 




(U 








rt 




CS 


.c 


o 




rt 


o 


3 


Q 


a, 


< 


^ 


•< 


en 


o 


<i 


< 


C/2 


ffi 


« 


C/3 


ifl'<Sl 


U 


Oh 


k4 


J 


';5! 


c/} 


33 


h4 Cu 



?^ 5 Q 



uiebra plato 
amio . . . 
ancoUa . . 
iirtuba . . 
3Corro . 
irrd .... 



+ 



+ 



+ 



+ 
+ 



+ 



+ 



na de gato 

ute + 

apote de mico ■■ ++ 



+ 



agricultural pro^uct6« 



The amazing success of agricultural products could not have been 
Dretold by the wildest dreamer. We have but to gaze at the list below 
find an evidence that Costa Rica has a soil and a climate, equalled 
lerhaps by no other country for agriculture in its broadest sense. It is 

land of plant profusion. 

In the following lists the crosses indicate the habitat of the individual 
)lants : 



Agricultural Products. 



w a 



§k 






++.+ 



\lberjas + . +++ ■ + • • ■ .++• + . + . + . 

\nis + .... + 

\rroz + . + . ++++++++ ■ + ■ • +++++++++ • +++ 

\guacate +++++ - + ■ +■ + ■ +++ • • ■ + • +++++++ • + 

^nona + . . ++++ +++ • +++ • + • • + 

^yote +++ + ++++ .++.++. + . . . ++++++++++- 

Arracacha + 



+ . . + 



A.pio + . . . . 

Ajo ++ • + 

Alpiste + 

Arrayan + 

Albahaquilla + ' • 

Aceituna + + ■ • + 

Algodon •.... + . 



Berro + + ••••• + 

Berenjena + + ..... + ....-f-+ + 

Batata + ....... + .. + .. + .++. + ....+ 

Cacao. . . ■. + ,.,.++.+ + . +++++ • . ++ 

' ' de mico ,•■•■ + 

67 



Agricultural Products. 
Continued. 






S 

< ■StVC 






c/^ X 



Cal^ 

" Caracolillo 
Cebada 



Ztfi 



Culantro + . + . + .+ 

Cidra 4- . . . -j — | — h 

Caz 4-... + .+ 



+++++++++++ . +++H-+ . + .++.++ 
+++++++++++ . +++++ .+.++.++ 
+ + • + 



+ . 



++ 
+ . -f 



++ 



+ .+ 



Col. + . + ... + .++.. + .++. 

CeboUa.. +++ . + .++.++.++. . + 

Chile picante -| — |- . . . . + 

Cebollin -f- 



. + 



+ . - . 



4 



Cana de azucar . 
Cuajiniquil . . . 

Chayote 

Camote 



+ ■++■+ 



• +• ++ . +++++++ . +++ . + . + . 

• + •■++ + + 

■ +++++++4- ..++ . ++ . ++++++ . . . ++++-I 

ru; , , • t • + • ++t+ ••••++• +++++4 . . ++++4 
Chile dulce + . . . . + -L-l \L \ I 

coiiflor + ;;;; + ■■;;■;; ^^ ;; "^ ;"+"• "^ 



Chiverre + 

Cubaces -j- . . . 

Carro-caliente + 

Cereza -j- 



++ 



4- 



4 



+ 



+ 



Cebadilla + 

Coyol -j- 

Cortiso -j- 



+ . + 



Ciruela ^ . . . . -j- 

Chian 



+ 



+ 



+ 



+ 
+ 



Caimito . ' -\- 



Coco -\- -\--\- 

Cacao mani _^ 

Cerrajilla -|- 



+ 



+ +++ 



Chicasqiiil _[- 

Chiverrillo .* -|- 

Capulin 



Cohombro . . . 
Corrosive (palo) 
Canafistiila . . . 
Carao 



+ 



. + . 



+ 



+ 



Chirimoga 

Calabazo 

Duraziio . . + . . .4-. . .+ 

Eneldo . -)-.-!-.-(-.+ . 



+ . + . +++ 



++ . 
++ 



+ 



+ 



Erepe 
Esparrago 

Fruta de pan -[-.__ -|- _ .j, _j_ 

Freza -j- 



+ 



Frambuesa -j- 

Garbanzos + . ++++.f .;;;.' _j_ ;." .W _j_ _" _L " , 

^'—'-- . . . . + .+++++. . ._,. . + . + +.+_|__j__i_ ■ ^ • ^ 

,... + . .++++ + . + ...4. ^ 

68 



Guayaba 
Graiiadilla 
Guaba , , 







o 
-a 




















" J2 ! ■ 




















« 




AgriculVural Products. 
Continued. 




i 
g 


■J 

10 


■f 







o 
E 


2 




s 


S .5 


. Q ^!^ 
a o oj ci 


o 


p 




o' 


3 

u 

a 




ta 

(C 

U 


ts 

G 




3 

Q 
,o 


a 














2;,< 


























Cfi w 6, 


.in 


< S,< 


■Ji 


O 


cS _ to CI CS « a 


X 


J J 


2; 


^ 






3h 


W 


O 


2 



Granada + . . . H — | — |- . 

Guanabana +H — h 

Guizaro + • • 

Guasimo + • • 

Guacal 



+ 



i Garbanzon + 

; Cuastomate 

' Guineo 



+ 



++ 



+ 



+ 



Guapinol + 

Guama + 

Higuerilla blanca ... + + . + + + + 

colorada .. + + . + + + 

Hi 



ligos 



+ 



Hinojos + 

Huigo + 

Higuito -|- 



+ 



+ 



+ 



+ 



Higueron 

Hismoyos + 

Holosapos + 

Helequeme + 

Itabo 



+ 



Icaco + 

Jinote 

ticara 



+ . .+ 



. + 

. + . . . ++ . - 
++- 
++- 

'. + '• 



+ . . 



(ocote de corona . . . + . -\ — h+++ + . . . 

comun + • + ■ ■ H — |- + • • + 

joico ++ • + 

jovillo 

Linaza + . + . + .4- + .+ 

Limon-cidra + .... + 

Limon + . + . +++ . . . ++++ . + . 

Lima. ._ + . + .+++. . .++++. + . 

Lima-agria + + 

Lechuga + . + . + . + . + ... + . + 

Maiz +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 

Manzana rosa -\ — \- . . . . -f . . . -\ — \r-\- .. + .... +++ . + .... 

Mostaza + + ++ . • • + • ++ 

Mango +++++++ . + . +++++++ . + . ++++++++ - 

Matasano + + . . . " 



+++ . + . . + . 



Manzano . . . 

Mora 

Murta . . . . 
Morera . . . . 
Maranon . . . 
Manzan Ha . . 
Membrillo . . 
Mdnbre . . . 
Melon . . . . 
Molinillo . . . 
Naranjo duke 



+ . 
++ 
+ . 



+ 



+ . + .+ 



+ 



+ 



+ 



++ 



+ 



+++++++++ 



++ 



+ 



+++++++ . + . +++++++ . + 
69 



H-++ . + . 



AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS. 

Contimied . 



! S ! u m ! 1- (u 
j^ en ' a; 3 I tn 






o|S 






I 



Naranjo de olor 
" agria 
" china 



Nabo 

Niame 

Nisperc) 

Nance , 

Nancite 

Ojoche 

Platanos 

Pita-aya 

Papaya 

Pina . 

Perejil 

Porotos 

Pacaya . . . . , 

Palmito duke 

Por6 

Pera 

Pinuela .... 

Papas 

Pejivalle . . . . 
Palmito amargo 

Pepino 

Papaturro . . 
Pipian .... 

Palta 

Papamiel . . . , 
Quimbras 
Rabano 
Remolacha 
RepoUo 
Rabo de mico . . 
Raspa-guacal 
Sismollo . . . . 
Sandias . . . . 
Surtuba . . . . 
Somgapote . . . 
Soncollo . . . . 
Sierrecillos . . . 

Trigo 

Tacaco 

" sin estopa 
Tiquisgues . . . 
Tomate de rinon 

" comun . 
Toronja . . . . 

Tuna ...... 

Tucuico . . . . 

Tamarindo . . . 



+ .++. + . . . . 
+ . +++ . + . + . 
. . ++ . . . . + . 
+++ . + . + . . + 

+ . . . + . + . .+ 



+++ 



+ 



+ 



+ 



+ . 
++ 



+ . + 

++++++++ . + . -t 



+ 



+ . 



- 



+++ 



+++■ 




++++++++++ . . ++ . + 



++ 



+ 



+ 
+ 



+ 



A 



+ 



. . .+ 




+ 



+ . 

++ 

.+ 



+ .+ 



+ 



+ . ■• 

+++ 



+ 



-^++ . +++ . ^ 



++ 



++ 



+ 



+ 



+ . ++ . .+-}-. . 
+ . ++ . . ++ . . 
+++ . ++++ . +- 
+++ . . . + . . + 

+. + . . .+ . . + 

+ 



+++ . +++ 
+ 



+ .+ 
.+ . . .+.+ 
■++^ .++.+. +++++ . ++^ 

++■•+•+.- 

++.. + .+.-! 

+++■+ -f 



++.. . 



70 



-1 



GRl CULTURAL PRODUCTS. 

Continnrd. 



rlQ 



WO 



l^a + 

' de costa + 

ainilla 



a; 



ca . . . 
as . . , 
ipote . , 
inahoria 
ipotillo . 
ipallo . . 



+ 

+ . + . ++++++++++ .++. + .++. +++++4- 

• . . ■ + + 

++•++• + +++++ . +++++++ . + . + 

+. . .+.+. . .+.+. . .++. +++ . . + . . . + 

++....+ .+ 

++++ . .++.++. +++ . . -f++ + . . . 



Notwithstanding the vastness of the territory, yet almost unexplored, 
lany scientific men who have visited the country, speak of it in the most 
attering terms, declaring that there is no country in America, perhaps 
I the world, where the products of the soil are so varied and numerous 
5 in Costa Rica. 

The greatest drawback experienced by the people of Costa Rica in 
iking advantage of its abundant sources of wealth, has been the smallness 
f its population. These are obhged to devote their time to the pro- 
luction of cereals, food products, and other articles for home consump- 
Ifon ; hence have been unable to increase the number of articles for 
Exportation, which to-day are few in number, the most important being 
[offee, bananas, sugar, hides, rubber, pearls, cacao, woods and cocoanuts. 



HGdcultural Iprobuctione* 

Coffee, 

This is the principal export of the country. An abundance of the 
lighest quality is produced in the San Jose, Alajuela, Cartago and Heredia 
'rovinces. 



71 



The facility for its cultivation and its superior quality, which' 
nas already brought well-merited fame to Costa Rica from the 
rest of the civilized world, and the high prices obtained for it 
in foreign markets, have induced the natives to devote their 
energies almost exclusivey to the raising of this important 
staple. 

The result has been that fortunes, more or less large, have 
been accumulated, not only by the better classes, but also by 
the peasants, who generally own the houses in which they 
live, and a few acres of land which yield abundant crops. 

The following table shows the places where coffee is culti- 
vated, and the number of plantations and coffee trees, the pro- 
duction in " quintals " (lOO pounds), and value of the har- 
vested article in 1889: 



Provinces and Counties. -o ^ £ o .5 iS Dollars 



H ^Ji Value in 

_ OJ /3 5 

B£ EC 

3 ra 3 o 3 3 

Sanjos^ 1,548 7,125,642 97,46312,241,649- 

Escasu 287 882,955 17,425 400,775 

Desamparados 301 2,102,120 31,123 715,829 

Pursical 179 79, 412 272 6256 

Aserri 218 354,908 827 19,021 

Mora 121 40,112 209 4,807 

Total for the Province of San Jos^ 2,654 10,585,149 147,319 13,388,337 

Alajuela 537 2,023,849 28,743 1661,089 

San Ramon 201 710,427 5,397 124,131 

Grecia 489 910,648 12. 427 285,821 

Naranjo 162 296,321 4,028 92,644 

Atenas 48 105,128 1,193 27,439 

San Mateo 18 21,142 121 2,785 

Palmares 371 1,245,325 21,282 489,486 

Total for the Province of Alajuela 1,826 5,312,840 73,19111,683,393 

Cartago 498 728,182 9,991 $229,793 

Paraiso 89 989,321 6,208 142,784 

La Uni6n 339 1,482,383 14,792 340,216 

Total for the Province of Cartago 926 3,199,886 30,991 $712,793 

72 



O 3 

u .2 



Provinces and Counties. xi « ^ u ^ S 

§5 SiS 



fc f- J: ii ^'alue in 

Dollars. 



Heredia 1,327 3,235,427 37,428 $860,844 

Barba 237 833,725 10,112 232,576 

Santo Domingo 368 2,102,127 31,192 717,416 

Sta. Barbara 592 492,125 . 3,32i 76,383 

'San Rafael loi ; 332,182 4,798 110,354 

Total for the Province of Heredia 2,425 6,995,586 86,851 $1,997,573 

Total for the Republic 7,831 26,093,461 338,352 $7,782,096 

Considering that the number of inhabitants in the four above- 
mentioned provinces is 182,998 (women and children in- 
cluded), the following interesting facts may be drawn by- 
glancing over the foregoing table : There is one coffee planta- 
tion for about every twenty- three inhabitants, or one hundred 
and eighty-two coffee trees per capita, producing one hundred 
and eighty-four pounds of coffee for each inhabitant, which 
represents a value of ;^42.54 for every man, woman and child 
in each of the four provinces from the receipts of coffee pro- 
duction alone. 

The handsome profits realized in coffee-producing countries 
have awakened the general interest towards that branch of 
agricultural industry. Costa Rica and, indeed, all the world, 
has noticed a remarkable increase in the production, notwith- 
standing the difficulties experienced, until very recently, in re- 
gard to the proper v/ays of communication with the shipping 
ports, whereby a large proportion of the profits were swallowed 
up in the payment of inland freight. The scarcity of labor, 
and the high prices paid for the same, have also been powerful 
obstacles. But for these hindrances, the country's wealth 
derived from the production of such a valuable article as coffee, 
would be, to-day, many times larger. 

The following illustration will show the increase in the 
•coffee production from the years 1884 to 1889 inclusive : 

73 



Coffee Trees and Value of Crops in the Years 

1R84. 1S89. 



Grand Total 
(3,925,330) 



San ]os6 
(1,999,160) 



Alajuela 
(345,960) 



Cartago 

(412,930) 



Or AND Total. 

(23,446,278) 



San Jos^ 

(9,783,867) 



Alajuela 

(3,543,773) 



Cartago 

(2,823,706) 



Heredia Heredia 

(1,167,280) (7,249,932) 



Grand Total. Grand Total. 



(26,093,461) 



San Jos^ 
10,585,149) 



Alajuela 
(5,312,840) 



Cartago 
(3,199,886) 



',782,096; 1 



San Jos^ ' 

(3,388,337: I 



Alajuela 
(1,683,393) 



Cartago 

(712,793) 



Heredia Heredia 

(6,995,586) (1,997,573' 



f 



Value of Coffee. 



inch= 



Number of Coffee Trees. 
Scale in this Table : 
-280,000 trees. ,Jg inch=|;84,ooo. 



A'^alue of Coffe 



74 



nDanner of Cultivating Coffee ant) jestintatet) 

profits. 

Without attempting to write a monograph on coffee, or on 
any of the other products to be mentioned in this book, brief 
descriptions will be made to give at least an idea of how they 
are cultivated and prepared for the market. 

Selection of Land.* — In the coffee industry, as in any 
other agricultural enterprise, the proper selection of land con- 
stitutes the first and perhaps the most important feature. It 
is, therefore, convenient to notice that virgin ground is always 
preferable ; that it should not contain gravel or sand to the 
depth of at least eight feet ; that the sub-soil be argillious 
and permeable ; that the upper layer be of a dark brown or 
black earth of at least eighteen inches deep ; that the land 
selected should not slope too much, as the rain would carry 
off the vegetable soil ; and finally that the altitude at which 
it is found be either higher than 1,500 feet, or lower than 
5,000 feet of the level of the sea. When too low, the tem- 
perature is warm, the tree develops to rapidly and becomes too 
large, the quality of the coffee is very indifferent and the plan- 
tation fails many years sooner. On the other hand, if the land 
be at a too high elevation, the tree develops very slowly, pro- 
duces little (although very good quality of coffee), and is apt 
to be injured by frost. 

Preparing the Land. — After having ascertained, by means 
of proper soundings, that the land selected possesses all the 
requirements necessary for the cultivation of coffee, the pre- 
paration of the ground is the next thing which calls for 
attention. 



» For further information on this subject apply to /IDr. 1Ricbar& lUillafranca, who will 
be accessible at the Cotton States and International Exposition for all intending visitors 
to Costa Rica, and will be pleased to give personal letters of introduction, and furnish any 
additional specific information that may be required. All communications should be 
addressed to the Costa Rica Pavilion, Atlanta, Ga., until December 31st, 1895, and there- 
after to the care of Typographic Department, Sackett & Wilhelms Lithographing Co., 
310 Fifth Avenue, New York. 

75 



The land should be cleared of all the trees, large and 
small, as well as all the underbrush, ploughed and turned over 
several months in advance of the epoch of transplanting the 
coffee trees. The object of this is to keep the soil exposed 
for a time to the atmospheric influences, before the young 
plants are definitely located in it. The digging of holes about 
the month of March is equally advisable, as it gives the soil, 
which will closely surround the roots of the plants, over a 
month's time to become richer by the atmospheric exposure. 
The practice of burning the fallen trees and underbrush is 
commonly adopted, although experienced planters oppose it, 
alleging that the soil loses a great deal of its moisture. 

Nurseries. — It is always necessary to have at hand a suffi- 
cient amount of" almacigo," or young plants ready to trans- 
plant, whenever it is necessary to replace a lost tree, or when 
desired to. increase the acreage of the plantation. If a good 
qu?-!ity of " almacigo " cannot be obtained from neighboring 
planters to start at once the " cafetal " or plantation, it be- 
comes indispensable to waste a year making the nursery, 
which should always be kept. 

To make the nurseries, select a piece of level ground con- 
taining abundant vegetable soil, with sufficient water at hand 
to irrigate the seed-plots. These are made a foot high and 
about forty-eight inches wide, and must be entirely free from 
rocks, pebbles, or roots of trees. Between the plots, small 
ditches should be dug to permit the water to run through them 
frequently. The best seeds need to be chosen, and planted at 
distances of ten or twelve inches apart ; the time for doing 
this is generally at the beginning of the rainy season, April 
being the most convenient month. After the seeds have been 
placed in the manner described, care should be taken to keep 
the beds well watered and protected from the direct rays of 
the sun ; it is equally important to keep the beds perfectly free 
from weeds. 

Forty days after, the tree begins to show itself, and a year 

76 



later it has acquired a height of from eighteen to twenty- 
inches, having from three to four sets, or " stories " of 
branches. 

Shading. — Although opinions differ as to the convenience 
of shading coffee plantations, experience has sufficiently- 
proven that the lack of it causes the ground to lose the re- 
quired moisture, and contract to the point of cracking the 
upper layers of soil. This occasions the delicate roots to 
break, and the trees, losing some of their arteries, the nutri- 
tion becomes scanty, the. leaves turn yello-w and fall, and the 
tree itself, -with less vigor, finally fails. To do away with this 
difficulty, irrigation is recomj-nended by some, but this method, 
besides being much more expensive, causes the tree to bloom 
and yield small crops during the year which, if not smaller than 
the one crop generally produced, are undoubtedly more costly 
in preparing them for the market, as the abundance of rain 
does not permit the berry to be dried in the natural way, and 
hence requires the employment of artificial means in the 
shape of expensive machinery, and an extra disbursement for 
fuel. Therefore the best plan is to shade the trees, and for 
that reason it is convenient to plant bananas or " poro ", used 
for this purpose, at the time that the nursery is started, so 
that when the transplanting is done, the young coffee trees 
may find themselves sufficiently protected from the direct rays 
of the sun. 

Planting. — This is done about the months of April and 
May, using the nursery trees already a year old. The holes, 
as has already been said, having been dug a month in ad- 
vance are ready to receive the young trees, which are taken, 
out of the nurseries. Special care must be had not to cut 
any of the roots of the trees which must be transplanted, and 
to leave around the roots a lump of the earth in which the}- 
grew, of about six inches on each side of the trunk. To put 
one tree into each hole is generally the custom, but some ex- 
l^erts rightly allege that two trees in a hole, distant from each 

77 



other about ten inches, do not exhaust the soil more quickly 
than one, and afford the advantage of obtaining double the 
quantity of coffee, without any more expense than that re- 
quired for the planting of one tree to each hole. 

The distance at which the trees are planted varies accord- 
ing to the fertilit}^ of the soil, but is usually nine or ten feet. 
The order in which they are placed is either in straight paral- 
lel lines nine or ten feet apart, forming squares whose four 
vertex are represented by a tree ; or by, also parallel straight 
lines forming a series of rhombi, having a tree at the vertex of 
each angle. The first method only gives two directions in 
Avhich to plow or work the land, while the second gives three. 

Weed-cle.4rings, Etc. — After the small trees have been 
located in the definite places, constant care should be taken 
to keep the land free from weeds. The weed-clearings, there- 
fore, have to be, for the first two years, as often as fiv^e or six 
times per year : after that, they become less frequent, as the 
foliage of the trees prevents the easy growth of weeds. The 
manner in which the weed-clearing process is practised does 
away with the under-brush, and again affords a constant in- 
crease of the vegetable matter needed for the wholesome 
growth of the plantation. This result is obtained by the use 
of a large shovel, wide and thoroughly sharpened, which is 
made to enter below the roots of the weeds, lifting them with 
about half an inch of earth up from the middle of the row, 
and throwing them on the side, forming a continuous heap. 
In doing this, the land is turned over, leaving the weeds 
buried under it, thus causing the weeds to rot and increasing 
the amount of nourishment required for the plants. This 
process is called " aporca." 

The next weed-clearing is done in a similar way as the first, 
only that in this case the weeds and earth taken from the line 
of the trees are deposited in the middle of the row. This is 
called " raspa." 

The " aporcas " and " raspas " are made during the 

78 



whole year alternately, giving" the good results already men 
tioned, and forming a series of ditches with the embanked 
earth either in the middle of the row, or on a line with the 
trees, thus preventing" the rain from carrying away the vege- 
table soil. 

Care should be taken not to permit any suckers growing" 
from the coffee trees, and to cut off the " guias " or upper 
shoots, so as to allow the tree to become stouter and more 
vigorous ; otherwise the tree will grow very tall and with 
comparatively few lateral branches. 

Gathering and Preparing. — Three years after the planta- 
tion has been started the first crop appears, although naturally 
a very small one ; but the older the tree gets, the larger the 
crop becomes, until it reaches the eighth year, when the plan- 
tation has acquired its fullest development. After that, and 
for about fifteen or twenty years, the crops are more or less 
even. 

About the end of November, or the beginning of December, 
the berry assumes a bright red color, much resembling a 
cranberry, which indicates that it is fully ripe and ready to be 
picked. This is done entirely by hand, men, women and 
children being paid so much for every " canasto " (basket) 
they pick. From the hands of the " cojedores " (pickers) the 
coffee goes into a large depository, and is then thrown into a 
machine called " despulpadora " or crusher, that breaks the 
pulp ; the grain being then free, it passes into a cementitious 
tank, where the saccharine scum that covers it is washed off. 
This done, the coffee is allowed to leave the tank, and pass 
through narrow cemental or wooden canals towards large 
open yards, made perfectly level and smooth by means of 
bricks or cement. These are called "patios." When the 
coffee has reached the " patios " the water is allowed to escape 
through gratings, and the berries are taken out and spread 
thinly on the patios, where they are left to dry, until they 
crack under the pressure of one's teeth. From there the 

79 



coffee is taken up and placed in a husking machine, called 
" trilla," whfere the " pergamino " (parchment) or second skin 
is detached from the grain. By the next process the coffee is 
put into a fanning machine, which clears away the parchment, 
and then the grain goes into a " retrilla " or polisher, where 
the tissue-like skin is made to come off. The " retrilla " also 
polishes and colors the grain, for which purpose a teaspoonful 
of powdered charcoal made of cedar or " poro " wood, is used 
for each quintal of coffee. 

From the " retrilla" the coffee goes again into a fanning 
machine, and when thoroughly clean passes into the " clasifi- 
cator " (classifier), which consists of a revolving cylinder cov- 
ered with wire netting, and having openings of different sizes. 
The coffee is forced to move through the whole length of the 
cylinder by means of a spiral lower division in it, which Car- 
rie ^ the grain along until it fits itself to the proper aperture or 
class. 

In this way the coffee is separated into a number of classes, 
but before being packed for exportation, it is placed on large 
tables where women pick out by hand all the black beans, 
pebbles, and any other irnpurities. 

After this, sacking, weighing and marking are all that has 
to be done before shipping the coffee to foreign markets. 

The following is an important ofBcial letter bearing directly 
upon coffee-culture, and gives additional valuable informa- 
tion : 

San Jose, Costa Rica, America Central. 

Dear Sir : — Your wish to be posted in regard to coffee 
culture in Costa Rica, this office shall hereby comply with 
eo far as concerns the expenses and incomes until the plan- 
tation yields regular yearly crops. The calculations cover, 
as you will notice, the clearing, planting, subsequent clean- 

j ings and picking of the berries, but they do not include the 

subsequent work of converting the berries into coffee ready 

i for shipment for the reason, that the diffferent methods of 

curing (beneficiar), incur a corresponding difference in ex- 
penses. The distinct demands of the different markets do 



also, to a certain degree, regulate the curing expenses : 
for instance, the coloring of the beans, assortment, etc. 

Several English and German treatises upon coffee, name 
more than twenty varieties of the article, but at present we 
shall deal only with the Arabian coffee, the one principally 
cultivated in Costa Rica. The few samples of Liberia (Afri- 
can) coffee and a shrub coffee tree, planted as an ornamental 
garden tree, take no part in the economical result. 

You will probably find the yearly crops quoted consider- 
ably lower than expected, but the office prefers, in its calcu- 
lations, to be on the safe side. Besides the question here is 
not to single out a few prosperous years' yield, but to give 
the average result for a series of years. The yield can not 
be quoted as uniform every year, because the coffee tree, 
like other fruit trees, requires now and then a partial rest, 
so that, for instance, two years' good crops will, the third 
year, be followed by an inferior one. Two pounds per 
tree may be considered a very good average crop, that 
is to say, twenty centner (qq) per manzana. More can not 
reasonably be expected, comparing the quantity of coffee 
with that of cacao. One manzana — 500 cacao trees — will 
average ten centner beans, although the cacao tree is more 
than twice as large as a coffee tree. 

For further information I may refer you to " The Text 
Book of Tropical Agriculture," by McMillan & Co., Lon- 
don and New York, 1892. 

The original price paid for the land, or its value before the 
cultivation, is excluded from this calculation, because the 
purchase sum is indeterminable, as it depends on the loca- 
tion and the buyer's individual taste and resources. 

As a rule the planter ought to superintend the work in 
person ; if not, it had better be let out on contract, but never 
left in day-laborers' hands, without strict surveillance. From 
the different ways in which the work is disposed of, arises 
the different expense accounts, very often at considerable 
variance with the expectation. As an example of contract 
work, whereby the contractor is made intimately interested 
in his employers' and in his own combined welfare, the fol- 
lowing agreement is hereby quoted : 

A party, Messrs. Rudd & Inksetter, of San Jos^, are at 
present forming a coffee plantation of 75 manzanas, at or 
near River Tuis, a few miles east of Turrialba. Their con- 
tractor receives for the work $300 per manzana and pro- 
vides his own board, and at the end of three years' steady 
work and attendance, 25 manzanas out of the 75 as prop- 

81 



erty, without deduction of payment for the land and the 
plantation. 

Said owners, Rudd & Inksetter, have then paid in at the 
end of three years : 

Purchase money for 75 manz. wild land, say 
at $30.00 $2,250 

Tilling, planting, cleaning, etc., 75 manz. 
during 3 years at $300 per manzana .... 22,500 



Expended capital without return 24,750 



The 4th year the first regular crop from 50 
manzanas at i pound per tree, or 10 qq per 

manzana — 500 qq at $30 per qq ^15,000 

The 4th year's expenses and income : 
5 cleanings of 50 manzas at $25 per manzana . $1,250 
Picking the berries, 500 qq at $5 per qq . . 2,500 

House for laborers and manager 200 

Fencing with wire 50 maz. 3,000 varas at $50 

for each 300 varas 500 

One year's salary to the manager of the plan- 
tation 700 5,150 

Net income $9,850 

The 5th years' crop from 50 manz. at i ^z lb. 

per tree, or50X 15 qq — 750 qq at $30 per qq 22,500 

The 5th years' expenses : , 

5 cleanings of 50 manzanas at $25 per manzana, $1 , 250 
Picking of berries 750 qq at $5 per qq . . .• 3,750 

Repairs on house and fences, say 200 

One year's salary to the manager ... . . 700 5,900 

Net income $16,000 

During the following eight years the annual crop may be 
quoted at two pounds per tree, or 20 qq per manzana. 
After this time the regular crops may drop down to 10 qq 
per manzana, and on neglected plantations as low' as 5 qq 
per manzana. 

As before said, this calcule does not include the expenses 
for converting the fruit into mercantile beans, because the 
ripe coffee is generally sold in the form of fruit to the large 
establishments (beneticios) for further treatment. Conse- 
quently, expenses for sacks and picking belong to the fruit 
buyer. But, if you prefer to carry your coffee into market 

82 



yourself, the beneficio operator will return to you the ready- 
made coffee at the rate of i qq for every fanega fruit. A 
fanega fruit will yield, according to the character of the 
coffee, from no to 115 pounds clean coffee. The surplus 
over 100 pounds is the price for his work. 

When you ask experienced planters' opinion about the 
cost of coffee planting, they will not give a uniform answer. 
Fred. Tinoco, a renowned producer of coffee and sugar, 
estimates coffee in first bearing to have cost him from $300 
to $500 per manzana. He says, that besides the character 
and location of the soil, the expenses seem to be dependent 
upon good or bad luck. The nursery may miscarry, part 
of the transplanted young trees may die and have to be 
restored, etc. ; all mishaps that swell considerably the 
expense list. 

Under regular circumstances the expenses per manzana 
may be quoted as follows ; not including the costs of the 
manager's board and time : 

Clearing and burning wild plants . . . . $30.00 

Nursery beds, per 1,000 plants 40.00 

Digging 1,000 holes and planting 1,000 trees 40.00 
Planting of 400 bananas or platano for shade 15.00 
400 bananas or platanos, 4 foot high . . . 20.00 
First year's assistance, replanting and 

cleaning 60.00 $205.00 

Second, third and fourth years cleaning and 

regulating at $25 per year 75- 00 

Cost of wild land from $ro to $30 — say $30 30.00 105.00 

Total cost of land and plantation $310.00 

Fourth year yields the first regular crop, say 10 qq at 
at $30 per qq, $300. 

Afterwards from 15 to 20 qq'per manzana. 

The foregoing statements seem to me sufficient to enable 
you to draw your conclusions in favor of a small or large 
plantation. I shall only add, that in case you prefer day- 
work to contract work, your nursery trees, ready for trans- 
planting, will cost you about $40 per thousand, and by your 
personal superintendence, you may save some of the con- 
tract expenses during the first three years, and afterwards 
part of the manager' s annual salary. 

Experienced planters consider six laborers and one boss 
sufficient, for a 50 manzanas coffee plantation, after it is 
formed and planted. The picking of the fruit is, of course, 

8r. 



an extra expense. According to the seasons — dry and wet — 
the day laborers will, boarding themselves, work from 7 
o'clock, A. M. to 2 o'clock P. M. for $1.00 to $1.25, or 
from 7 o'clock A. M. to 6 o'clock P. M. for $1.50. These 
are the prices paid this year. 

If the producer (planter) prefers to handle and ship his 
coffee on his own acount, it will be well for him to remem- 
ber, that in shipment from seaport to seaport, coffee 
must be treated with the utmost care and cleanliness, 
not to lose its original smell and taste. The raw coffee 
bean is in this respect as delicate as milk. Greasy or smell- 
ing sacks, smoke, raw hides stored in the same vessel, bad 
or damp air rising from the bottom of the hull and con- 
densed under the decks — these and similar lack of precau- 
tionary measures may bring the best coffee down to a 
lower grade, and class the product among any other sorts 
than the Costa Rican mountain coffee. 

Although your letter does not call for the following in- 
formation, it may be expected that you, with the intention of 
settling in Costa Rica, may feel interested in posting your- 
self in regard to the current prices of the following agricul- 
tural articles. 

Remember that all money calcules in this communication 
are made under the present course ; one dollar American 
gold equal to $2.50 Costa Rica currency. 

List of Agricultural products and their present retail price: 



Coffee, per lb $0.45 

Cacao, peril) i.oo 

Tobacco, per lb. (sold 
only by the Govern- 
ment) 2.00 



Bananas, per bunch . . .50 
Platanos, per bunch . . .20 

Yuca, per lb 05 

Tiquisque, p^r lb 05 

Rice, per lb 15 

Corn, per centner . . . 4.C0 
Field Beans, per centner 8.00 
Wheat Flour, per cent- 
ner 10.00 

Milk, fresh, per quart . .30 
Lobster, i lb. tins . . . .60 
Figs, per lb., in boxes . .50 
Apples, 2 lb. tins .... i.oo 
Cherries, 2 lb. tins . . . i.oo 
Raisins 60 



Oranges $0.10 

Oxmeat, fresh, per lb. . .30 
Pork, fresh, per lb. . . .40 
Codfish, per lb., sallad. .50 
j\Iackerel, per lb., sailed .50 

Butter, per lb i.oo 

Lard, per lb 35 

Cheese, per Count, make .60 
Hens, per piece .... i.oo 
Chickens, per piece . . .50 

Eggs, 9 for 50 

Sugar, per lb 15 

Starch, per lb 20 

Sardines, per box . . . .20 
Salmon, i lb. tins . . . .50 

Jellies }4 lb. tins 40 

Pears, 2 lb. tins .... i.oo 

Plums, per lb i.oo 

Milk }i lb. tins 60 



Respectfully, 



John .Schkoeder. 



84 



The following interesting facts are quotations from an official 
communication, and are further conclusive proofs of the very 
great profit in a Costa Rica coffee plantation : 

" Ten years ago the coffee producer used to get $io per quin- 
tal (loo pounds), and managed to make a fortune. The price 
has gradually raised since that time, and, during the last uve 
years, has reached a price as high as $40 per quintal." 

" A few years ago the Costa Rican coffee was more appreciated 
in London and Hamburg than in the United States, and the bulk 
of No. I coffee went, therefore, to Europe ; but, during the last 
few years, considerable amounts have been shipped to San Fran- 
cisco and Atlantic ports. 

" It is worth noting that, on the opposite side of the globe. 
South India lies on just about the same latitude north as Costa 
Rica ; their respective growths being quite similar as regards the 
excellency of quality. On the same line are found, also, the 
Abyssinian coffee districts which, in ancient times, supplied 
Persia with the article. 

** Under regular circumstances the price of Costa Rican coftee, 
in the markets of New York and London, does not differ from 
the one obtained for best qualities of coffee from other countries 

"Whether the price of coftee will be higher or lower, during 
the next ten years, depends not alone on the increased produc- 
tion during this period, but also on fen ign nations' developed 
taste for coffee as a daily beverage in preference to tea. Coffee as 
a beverage is, at present, consum by 100,000,000 people." 

The following statistics may help to foretell the prospects of 
coffee in the future. 

Average Consumption, 
per Head, 

France 2.73 pounds 

Belgium 13-48 

Switzerland 7-03 

Russia, European 0.19 

Sweden 6. 11 

Norway 9.80 

Denmark .13.89 

Holland . . 21.00 

Germany 3.94 

Austria 2.13 

Greece 1.24 

Italy 1. 00 

United Kingdom 1.00 

United States 7.61 

85 



"As in Denmark and Sweden, alone, during four years, the 
increased consumption has been 1.50 pounds per head, there 
is reason to believe that other countries, with the comparative 
small consumption of from one to two pounds per head, may do 
likewise. 

" The Costa Rica coffee has, during- the last years, obtained 
high prices. This success has induced the planting of consider- 
ably large tracts with new coffee ; but a large share of these 
crops will not enter into the markets of the world for three 
or four years, so that price of coffee will not be materially dis- 
turbed during the same period. 

"A capital of $25,000 American gold invested in a coffee 
plantation of 200 manzanas wall, six years after the planting, have 
produced a real estate of $100,000 American gold." 

Synopsis of the plantations, number of coffee trees, their yield 
and value in the whole Republic of Costa Rica : 

Number Number Harvest Harvest Value 

Years. of of in in in 

Plantations. Coffee Trees. Centals. Kilos. Dollars. 

1883 
1884 
1885 
1886 
1887 

1888 . . 7,607 25,248,686 307,440 14,142,240 5,656,892 

1889 . . 7,831 26,093,461 338,352 15,564,192 7,782,096 

1890 . . 8,130 26,558,251 333,632 15,347,072 7.573,365 

1891 . . 8,232 26,680,907 363,673 16,728,958 10,893,240 

1892 . . 8,366 26,911,078 378,224 17,398,704 10,954,744 

1893 . . 8,595 26,282,874 33i>758 15,160,878 11,611,530 



7,490 23,446,278 405,053 18,632,438 $3,925,330 



Total 2,458,132 112,974,482 $58,397,197 

Bananas, 

Of the exportable articles of Costa Rica, the next in im- 
portance to cofTee is, undoubtedly, the banana. Its cultivation 
was begun on the Atlantic coast in 1879, ^^^ originated from 
the inducement offered in the easy transportation afforded by 
a railroad, which traveled across a small section of the coun- 
try, admirably suited to this business. 

Whether it was due to the commercial caution of the 
people, who avoid venturing largely in a new enterprise, or 

S6 



because they did not imagine an article, which was so common 
and so lightly appreciated in their own country, could attain 
so great a value in foreign markets, the fact is that the culti- 
vation of bananas began on a very small scale. 

The first three hundred and sixty bunches of bananas, 
which were exported to the United States in 1880, proved that 
bananas could become a new source of wealth to the country, 
and the Government promptly ceded liberal grants of land to 
those who were willing to develop the industry. The results 
can be well judged by the following table, which shows the 
number of bunches exported from 1883 to 1889 and their 
value. 

Years. Number of Bunches. Value of Bananas. 

1883 110,801 $55,400 

1884 420,000 336,000 

1885 401-183 302,457 

1886 595,970 476,775 

1887 .■ 889,517 669,544 

1888 854,588 530,765 

1889 990,898 569,020 

Total. . . .4,262,957- $2,939,961 

In 1888 there were already sixty-one extensive banana 
plantations, and a large number of minor ones, which pro- 
duced 896,245 bunches, valued at $537,74/. 

This infant industry is getting to be more important every 
day. The bananas, which grow spontaneously in the tropical 
countries, have been, since 1879, an article of foreign com- 
merce. Before, they were planted in the coffee plantations to 
shade the young trees and shelter the grains from the winds, 
that would sweep down the unmatured berry. The fruit of 
the banana was used to feed pigs, or grew without any culti- 
vation in the mountains and plains, thus going into absolute 
waste. The laboring classes in those countries generally kept 
a few plants in their back yards and used the green fruit. 
boiled with salt, or roasted on hot coals, instead of bread. 
The varieties of bananas are great, there being some tAventy- 

87 



five or thirty classes. The better ones are, when perfectly- 
ripe, baked in an oven with a slow fire, after being peeled and 
buttered along- a longitudinal incision which is made in the 
fruit ; thus prepared, it becomes a delicious food. The pro- 
duction of this article, which was thus limited, has been greatly 
increased, due to the American fruit companies, who began 
to send vessels to Mexico, Central America, Columbia, 
Guianas and West Indies, making monthly trips, and paying 
fancy prices for the fruit. The sudden rise in the price of an 
article which was, for those people almost without any value, 
induced them to start small plantations. The success ob- 
tained by the trial, together with the moderate amount of capi- 
tal, labor and enterprise required, encouraged them and some 
foreign firms to establish large plantations. These are generally 
located near the railroad lines, on the banks of rivers, or on 
the coast, thus saving labor and expense for transportation, 
and too much handling of the fruit. The lands chosen for 
the production of the banana are those that contain extensive 
alluvial deposits, composed chiefly of blue clay impregnated 
with marine salt, and rich in decomposed vegetable matter. 
On the large plantations, where more capital is used and the 
labor is better organized, it can be noticed that the trees are 
planted from twelv^e to fifteen feet apart, in the form of squares, 
and where irrigation is required, trenches are dug between to 
adniit the water passing through them as often as it is neces- 
sary. In places where the rain is abundant, or where the soil 
is damp, the bananas grow best. 

It is generally at the end of nine months that the plants 
mature, and after that time the fruit can be gathered every 
week in the year, provided the plantation has been well kept 
and has had a good start. At that time the trunk of the tree 
attains a height of from eight to ten feet, and is about thirty- 
six inches in girth. From the trunk, which is porous, and 
yields an excellent fiber, are thrown out palm-like branches to 
the number of half a dozen or more. The bunch of fruit 

88 



appears at the junction of the trunk and branches, and con- 
sists of from four to twelve of what are termed " hands," each 
hand having eight or twelve bananas on it. A bunch of eight 
" hands " or clusters is counted as a full bunch ; while those 
that have from five to seven are taken as half bunches ; bunches 
with less than five hands are styled third class ; the others, 
respectively, first and second class. From the root of 
this tree several shoots or " suckers " sprout, each of which 
in turn becomes a tree, and bears a bunch of bananas ; these 
may be transplanted. After the bunch has been cut the tree 
is usually felled. In fact, planters generally cut the tree in 
order to gather the fruit. 

The manner in which the banana is cultivated is certainly 
the easiest, as very little skill or labor is demanded, nature 
doing almost all the work. The first cost of planting an acre 
of land is from ^50 to ;^6o, the production being from 600 to 
800 bunches to the acre, which makes a cost of about seven 
or eight cents per bunch. These are sold on the plantations 
to the American fruit companies for from fifty to sixty cents ^ 
American gold. They in turn sell them in this country for 
from one to three dollars per bunch. 

It is calculated that a vessel with a dead-weight capacity of 
i,000 tons could carry a cargo of 20,060 bunches. It is 
already a known fact that the loss on the voyage rarely ex- 
ceeds fifteen per cent. ; therefore, if the balance were to be sold 
at the low price of one dollar per bunch, the profit made on 
the trip on the cargo of bananas only, without calculating at all 
the profits that could be had carrying passengers and mails, 
would amount to no less than ^7,000 after the payment of all 
the expenses. 

The estimated loss of fifteen per cent, which the vessel suf- 
fers, could be greatly diminished if there were better facilities of 
transportation in those countries, where the bananas are taken 
from the plantations to be loaded on trains, small steamers, or 
canoes, on springless carts, or on the heads of the laborers. 



riie bananas intended for exportation are cut while they are. 
yreen, stowed in the vessel carefully, and in such a way as to 
jiermit the air to circulate freely, and to av^oid the rays of the 
sun, which Avould ripen the fruit before it reached its destina-. 
lion. Any slight bruise made on the skin of a green banana, 
although apparently unnoticeable at first, develops in the ripe 
fruit into a black spot, which tends to lessen the value of the 
fruit in the market. 

As it is generally the case, that the fruit produced for 
exportation in tropical countries, finds ready purchasers in the 
])lanters, who pay for it at the moment of its delivery, and 
ship it to the markets of the United States in their own vessels, 
there is no established rate of freight on bananas. The owners 
of the vessels usually share the risk on such cargoes with the 
insurance companies. 

lExpenee of Banana prot)nctton0 anb profits. 

To better illustrate the profitable business that can be made 
by planting bananas, an estimate of the expenses and produc- 
tion of a plantation of 69 acres (40 " manzanas ") is given 
below, taking into consideration, at the same time, the various 
difficulties to be encountered in tropical countries, such as 
bad roads, scarcity of labor, high prices of seed, etc. 

Estimates of Richaj'd Villafranca, consul-general of Costa Rica, 
which were submitted to, and approved by the superintendent 
of the Costa Rica Railroad. 

Expenses of planting a manzana of land (1:7242 acres) first 
year : 

(i) Cutting down the underbrush, burning, and 

clearing $35-oo 

(2) Price of 270 suckers, at $25 per thousand • 6.75 

Five weed clearings, at $7 each 35- 00 

Total cost for the first year $76.75 

90 



Expenses made on 40 manzanas (69 acres) of land, 
according" to the foregoing estimate : 

Clearing, planting, etc. , on 40 manzanas, at 

$76.75 each $3,070.00 

Board and other expenses of an overseer, for 

12 months, at $30 a month 360.00 

(3) Interest on $3,430 in 12 months, at 6 per 

cent, a year 205.80 

Total cost for the first year $3,635.80 

Board and other expenses of an overseer, for 

12 months 360.00 

(4) Four weed clearing, at $280 each 1,120.00 

(5) Cutting down 54,000 bunches, at 2;f4c. each 1,350.00 

Cost of a portable house 1,000.00 

Plows and other agricultural implements . 500.00 

(6) Interest on $7,965.80, at 6 per cent, a year 477-95 

Total cost at the end of the second vear . $8,443.75 



INCOME DERIVED FROM THE ABOVE PLANTATION. 

40 manzanas, with 270 suckers each, equal to 

10,800 suckers ; 10,800 suckers yielding 5 

bunches each, equal to 54,000 bunches ; 

54,000 bunches, sold at 50 cents each, make $27,000.00 

Deducting all of the expenses made in the 

two years 8,443.75 



(7) Leaves a net profit at the end of the second 

year, of $18,556.25 



NOTES. 

(i) The estimated cost of $76.75 per manzana occurs when 
the land is cleared, burned, etc., before planting ; but it would 
only amount to $60 or $65 if the planting were done first and 
the clearing after. 

(2) The best results are obtained when the trees are planted 
eighteen feet apart ; thus it would necessitate only 270 suckers 
to one manzana. 

(3) This plantation is supposed to be started by a person who, 
having only money enough to buy the land, is compelled to 
mortgage the property to secure funds to improve the same ; 
therefore it is calculated that he is paying an interest of six per 
cent, a year and not eight or ten, because the $3,430 is the total 

91 



■expense of the first year, which ag^gregates in small amounts 
•every month. The same i) applicable to the second year. 

(4) The weed clearings of the second year are neither as fre- 
quent nor expensive, as the banana plant is fully developed and 
its heavy foliage stops somewhat the growth of the weed. 

(5) This item is very much exaggerated, as a man can easily 
cut down a bunch in less than half a minute ; but in order to give 
the laborers, who usually work ten hours a day, the amplest 
time to rest, smoke, and take their meals, it is here calculated 
that they cut down only one bunch every fiften minutes, or forty 
a day, for which work they get one dollar ; thus the cutting of 
one bunch costs two and one-half cents. 

(6) The samejreasons expressed in Note 3 are good in this case, 
with the only difference, perhaps, that in this instance the 
amount calculated for interest could, without danger, be stricken 
out, as the plantation has been in a state of productiveness since 
the tenth month after it was started, and no merit has been made 
of the profits obtained in that period of time from the tenth 
month to the twenty-third. 

(7) The amount of $18, 556. 25 represents the clear profits real- 
ized up to the end of the second year. In this estimate are not 
included the profits derived from the sale of bananas from the 
tenth month to the twenty-fourth ; nor those obtained from 
planting a great many other fruits, such as lemons, limes, pine- 
apples, cocoanuts, oranges, maranones, cocoa, etc., all of which 
necessitate hardly any extra expense to plant and keep in good 
■condition, giving on the other hand the most flattering results. 

Most of the bananas grown in those countries, whose names 
have been already mentioned, are shipped to the United States, 
the greater part of them going to New Orleans, Baltimore, 
Philadelphia, Boston, and New York ; from these ports they 
are distributed throughout the States. 

As has already been said, to start a banana plantation re- 
quires very little skill, labor of anxiety. After securing a suit- 
able piece of ground, located as near as possible to a navigable 
river or a railroad, the first thing to be done is to clear away 
the underbrush ; then dig the holes at distances of from 
twelve to sixteen feet, forming squares in which the vertices of 
the four right angles correspond to one hole, wherein a plant 
or sucker is placed and covered with a small layer of earth. 

If the land is mountainous, the trees may be felled either 

92 



before or after planting the bananas. Each of these methods 
has its advantages. If the land be cleared after planting, there 
will be, naturally, some loss occasioned by trunks falling on 
the young plants ; but on the other hand, the plantation has 
been advancing while the clearing was being done, and the 
saving of time well repays the destruction of the few plants 
which may be buried under the fallen trees. The Second plan 
delays the starting ot the plantation, and, consequently, defers 
the period for gathering the first crop. 

Five weed-clearings the first year, and three or four during 
each of the succeeding years, are all that are required to keep 
the plantation in a good state of productiveness. After the 
second year the trees are fully developed, and the amount of 
shade thrown prevents a luxuriant growth of underbrush ; thus 
the weed-clearings are needed less frequently. 

At the end of the second year the crop is abundant, and 
the only labor required to gather it is to fell the tree. For 
this purpose one or two oblique cuts are bestowed on the 
trunk with a large, sharp knife, which forces it to bend at once 
beneath the weight of its ripened burden. It must be remem- 
bered that, in the spot where one tree has fallen, two or three 
others immediately spring into existence (often in less than a 
week), and as they thrive and bear fruit equally well at all 
times of the year, there can be a repetition of banana-cutting 
once or twice a week, according to the size of the plantation. 

The above instructions, and a little care in handling the 
bunches of bananas are all the enterprise requires to obtain 
the excellent results already shown. 

The following is a quotation from an official letter from 
Costa Rica : 

"A lOO manzana banana plantation, free from any combina- 
tion with coffee or cacao, will yearly produce 250 bunches per 
manzana fit for export — 2 5 ,000 bunches per year. The smaller 
bunches not suitable for sale, probably from 50 to 100 bunches 
per manzana, have to be used on the farm for cattle and hogs. 

93 . 



" During the first five years of its growth, the banana pro- 
duces export bunches (racimos). Afterwards tlieir size de- 
creases, and hence the quality needed; in this case they are 
utilized for home consumption. 

" In order to keep the saleable stock up to 25,000 bundles, 
it is, therefore, necessary to increase the plantation every year 
with 20 manzanas of new plants. The old part of the planta- 
tion, that yearly drops out, is generally converted into pas- 
tures (potrero)." 

Bunches of bananas exported during 1884 were 425,000; 
in 1893, 1,150,000 bunches were sent out of the country; 
making a total in the ten years of 8,650,000 bunches. 

^able of :©anana plantatione. 





HARVESTS AND VALUE. 






1890. 










Yield 


Value 


fumber. 


Names of Farms. 


in Bunches. 


in Dollars, 


I 


America 


9,295 


$3,295 


2 


Arta 


2,149 


743 


3 


Amistad 


28 


8 


4 


Angelina 


13.191 


4,921 


5 


Babilonia 


38,431 


16,717 


6 


Bornemann 


20,649 


7,846 


7 


Brooklyn 


24,097 


10,002 


8 


Cabana 


i>i33 


321 


9 


Ccvncepcion 


13,298 


4,324 


10 


Cinarrones 


3,789 


1,062 


II 


Cartaeo 


5,226 


2,295 


12 


Costa Rica 


18,164 


6,893 


13 


Colombiana 


16,556 


6,510 


14 


Cristina * 


15,785 


5,418 


15 


Cubero 


270 


100 


16 


Celina 


7,647 


2,487 


17 


Constancia 


59 


26 


18 


Cultepper 


27,191 


10,742 


19 


Cairo 


6,053 


2,093 


20 


Corinto 


3,741 


1,170 


21 


Cacao 


3.807 


^307 


22 


Cosme Peralta 


2,267 


852 


23 


Dos Novillos 


8,607 


3.238 



94 



T. 


\BLE OF Banana Pi 


i-ANJATIONS. Co 


uiti7iued. 






Yield 


Value 


Number. 


Names of Farms. 


in Bunches. 


in Dollars. 


24 


Destine 


266 


80 


25 


Estrella 


1,924 


748 


26 


Experienca 


14,347 


4,665 


27 


Emilia 


14.310 


5,164 


28 


Esmeralda 


14,790 


5,452 


29 


Freehold 


19,214 


6,196 


30 


Foxhall 


8,910 


3,461 


31 


Flores 


433 


144 


32 


Guapiles 


18,931 


6,388 


33 


Granja 


4,025 


1,253 


34 


Glencairns 


271 


85 


35 


Guasimo 


27,515 


10,591 


36 


Hogar 


17,638 


6,468 


37 


Hirroquois 


13,236 


5,630 


38 


Irazu 


7,198 


2,395 


39 


Juanita 


58 


18 


40 


Livertad 


1,410 


495 


41 


Lola 


12,134 


4,631 


42 


Libano 


4,887 


1,588 


43 


Miller 


3,937 


1,220 


44 


Maria 


6,008 


2,389 


45 


Mullner 


32,661 


12,663 


46 


Molino 


19,354 


6,470 


47 


Montesano_ 


283 


70 


48 


Mercedes 


7,501 


2,888 


49 


Malvonia 


691 


220 


50 


28 Mile 


150 


48 


51 


28 Mile 


153 


53 


52 


New Prospect 


7,272 


2.327 


53 


Numancia 


13,486 


4,090 


54 


New York 


7,428 


2,460 


55 


Otillia 


4,721 


1,613 


56 


Palnira 


14,319 


4,428 


57 


• Pacifica 


19,284 


6,428 


58 


Parlsmina 


8,920 


3,049 


59 


Providencia 


6,947 


2,370 


60 


Pepilla 


3,462 


1,310 


61 


Panchita 


200 


67 


62 


Rosario 


4,467 


1,580 


63 


Runnebaum 


11,678 


4,647 


64 


Reventazon 


14,117 


5,321 


65 


Riatti 


6,444 


2,443 



95 



Table of Banana Plantations. — Conti?iued. 







Yield 


Value 


Number. 


Names of Farms. 


in Bunches. 


in Dollars. 


66 


Rio Verde 


12,428 


4,262 


67 


Rio Hondo 


8,204 


3,194 


68 


San Nicolas 


10,286 


3,968 


69 


Siquirres 


20,153 


7,553 


70 


Salvador 


7,577 


2,505 


71 


San Jose Creek 


1,070 


315 


72 


Santa Clara 


4,822 


1,707 


73 


Santa Ines 


435 


146 


74 


Selva 


6,305 


2,227 


75 


Turrialba 


7,744 


3,011 


76 


Toro Amarillo 


44 


13 


77 


Williamsburg 


20,863 


8,095 


78 


Varias fincas pequenas 
Total. r 


374,901 


142,986 




,091,025 


$405,672 



Cocoa. 

(Cocoa or Thesbrama.) 

Although this article is not sufficiently cultivated now to 
rank among the leading products, whose exportation add a 
notable increase to the wealth of the country, yet its adapti- 
bility to various regions in Costa Rica, its excellent quality, 
the small amount of labor required to grow it, its longevity, 
and finally, the large profits derived from it, are all favorable 
points which enable us to predict that soon the cacao industry 
will fairly rival that of bananas, and, perhaps, even that of 
coffee. The Government of Costa Rica are fully aware of 
this fact, and liberal inducements are offered to all who are 
willing to develop this avenue of wealth. 

Large plantations of this industry were worked, many years 
ago, in the valley of Martina, and great quantities of the 
article were exported ; the enterprise was abandoned, however, 
partly through lack of transportation facilities, and partly 
through fear of the Mosquito Indians arid pirates, who invaded 
the region. 

,96 



Cacao and other valuable products have received but little 
attention in Costa Rica, since coffee plantations began to ab- 
sorb all the time and capital ; the efforts in this latter direction 
have been so well compensated, the planters have had no 
occasion to enter largely into new enterprises, even although 
so thoroughly profitable as cacao has been proven to be. 
As has been already stated in previous tables, cacao is culti- 
vated at present in the following countries : Aserri (San Jose), 
Atenas and Naranjo (Alajuela), Heredia (Heredia), Paraiso 
(Cartago), in the whole of Guanacaste, in Golfo Dulce (Pun- 
tarenas) and in Limon. 

Cacao Exported from 1884 to 1889. 
Years. Founds. Value in Dollars. 



i««4 9>927 $3,227 

1885 16,271 4,084 

1886 5,776 2,223 

1887 10,906 4,708 

1888 18,410 3,576 

1889 28,830 12,386 

Total 90,110 $30,276 

The number of plantations regularly established up to i, 
was one hundred and ninety-eight, having in all 56,426 trees 
that yielded in the same year, 331,900 pounds, valued at 
^165,770, as follows: 

Provinces Number of Numb-.-r of Nunil.>erof ," Value 

and Counties. Plantations. Trees. Pounds. '"^i Money. 

Naranjo (Alajuela) . . 9 1,142 5, 600 ' $2,800 

Heredia (Heredia) . . 7 452 1,800 720 

Limon 182 54,832 324, 5'. <o 162,250 

Total . . 198 56,426 331,900 $165,770 

Besides the plantations just mentioned, there is a large num- 
ber of small plots of which there is no official record. Nat- 
ural forests are also found where cacao grows in a wild state. 
Thus far, the amount of cacao cultivated has not been enough 
to supply local demands, and though small quantities are ex- 

97 



ported annually (perhaps due to commercial combinations), 
instead of having a surplus with which to furnish foreign 
markets, merchants in Costa Rica have been forced to import 
comparatively large amounts of an article, which can be so 
easily grown in the territory of the Republic. 

The cocoa produced in 1888 amounted to ;^ 165, 770, of 
which $2),S7^ was exported, leaving for home consumption 
^162,194 worth of the article. But this was not enough, and 
during the year, j^26,99 1 worth was imported; therefore the 
amount consumed within the countr}^ may be estimated at 
^189.185. 

" A law passed by the government, declares a premium of 
twenty -five cents to be paid for every tree, planted after the date 
of the issue of said law, when the plantation has reached the 
age of three years, if in good condition. By this recent law 
the premiums will begin to fall due during the latter part of 
1897." 

Cacao jfarming. 

San Jose, Costa Rica, America Central. 

Dear Sir : — Letters asking a minute explanation of the 
culture of cacao, the expenses and the final result of same, 
this office shall hereby try to answer, in a general way, by 
giving a brief account of cacao farming during a period 
of sixteen years. The space in a letter will not allow full 
deVail of the nature, or expenses of the various works done 
everv year, but enough will be quoted to enable the reader 
to de de, if he has the means required for making a plan- 
tation alone, or if he had better join in company with 
partners. 

I do not hesitate to say, that nearly all pamphlets treat- 
ing the cacao question have exaggerated the amount of 
yearly crops, quoting as an average eight pounds per tree 
and even more. In the present account the average crop is 
quoted at two pounds, and the value at twenty cents in gold 
per pound, although the Costa Rican cacao can not be ob- 
tained here under forty cents in gold per pound on account of 
its excellency. The poorer classes drink a cheaper cacao 
imported to Costa Rica from South America. Parties with 
Jimited capital had better go into cacao and coffee planting, 

98 



instead of cultivating the coarser grain stuffs on a large 
scale as sale products. 

There is always a call for coffee and cacao, and the culti- 
vation itself is classed as gentlemen farming, leaving plenty 
of time for outside business, while the cultivation of grain 
and breadstuffs requires a yearly tilling of the soil, combined 
with heavy expenses from farm-hands and animals. 

A 200 manzanas cacao farm, with about 125 manzanas 
(217 acres) covered with cacao, is considered very large. 
According to your own or your friends' means, you may cut 
down the number of manzanas and proportionate the ex- 
penses and amount of crop. 

The calculations below are made in Costa Rica currency. 
At present two dollars and fifty cents Costa Rica currency 
are equal to one dollar American gold. Labor wages have 
not increased in proportion, li e difference hardly being 
twenty-five cents Costa Rica curiency per day. The reason 
for this small incease may be alt'ibuted partly to the fact, 
that the people at large consider the intrinsic value of their 
silver dollar to-day, the same as before. The following 
calculation wa;^ nade two years ago, when one dollar and a 
half was equal to one dollar in American gold. 

CACAO CULTURE ON SHARES. 

500 shares, each one of $40.00 Costa Rica currency, 
$20,000 payable by yearly instalments during the first five 
years : 

Expense. Income. 

Payment on 500 shares, at |io per share $5,ooo 

Amount paid on purchase of 200 manz. , at fio 

per manz $2,000 

Total expense for culture and houses 2,500 

Cash deposited with the company's treasurer . . . 500 

ist year's plantation, 10,000 trees on 25 manz. Total, $5,000 fo.ooo 

Payment on shares, |5,ooo — deposit from rst 

year, I500 $5,5oo 

Total e.xpenses for culture, etc fe,ooo 

Cash deposited with C. T 2,500 

2d year's plantation, 10,00 trees on 25 manz. Total, $5,500 $5,500 

Payment on shares, $5,000 — Deposit from 2d 

year, $2,500 . . _. l7,5oo 

2,500 bunches plantains, $312 ; 120 cent, corn, $200, 512 

Total expense for culture, houses and horses . . . $3,410 
Cash deposited with C. T 4,602 

3d year's plantation, 10,000 trees on 25 manz. Total. $8,012 $8,012 

99 



J 



4. Payment on shares, $2,500 — Deposit from 3d 

year, $4.602 J?7,i')2 

5,000 bunches plantains, $625 ; corn, $200 .... 825 

Total expenses for culture, houses, etc l3,43o 

Cash deposited with C. T 4.497 

4th year's plantation, io,om.> trees on 25 man^. Total, 17,927 17,927 

5. Payment on shares, I2, 500 — ■ Deposit from 4th 

year, |4,497 •-..■• 16,997 

7,500 bunches plantains, ^937 ; corn, |2oo .... 1,137 

Total expenses for culture, etc J^3i53o 

Cash deposited with C. T 4,604 

5th 3'^ear's plantation, 10,000 trees on 25 manz. Total, $8, 134 $8, 134 

6. All shares paid up ; deposit from 5th year, $4,604 . $4,604 
10,000 bunches plantains, $1,250; corn, $200 . . . i,45o 
Total expenses for culture, etc $2,920 

Cash deposited with C. T. 3.134 

No more new plantation. Total $6,054 $6,054 

7. Deposit from 6th year ^■3,134 

10,000 bunches plantains, $^1,250 ; corn $200 ; 

cacao, 50 centner, $2,500 • ,■5,950 

Total expenses for culture, etc .: 92,765 

Dividend on shares paid with io per cent. . . . rt 2,000 

Cash depost with C. T. 2,319 

Dividend paid with $2,000. Total $7,084 $7,084 

8. Deposit from 7th year $2,319 

10,000 bunches plantains, $1,250; corn, 5^2oo ; 

cacao, 150 centner, $7,500 8,950 

Total expenses for culture, etc $3,425 

Dividend on shares paid with 20 per cent. .... 4,000 
Cash deposit with C. T 3.844 

Dividend paid with $4,000. Total $11,269 $11,269 

9. Deposit from 8th year $3,844 

5,000 bunches plantains, $625 ; corn, $200 ; cacao, 

250 centner, $12,500 13,325 

Total expenses for culture, sacks, drying ma- 
chine, etc $7,665 

Dividend on shares paid with 20 per cent 4,000 

Cash deposited with C. T 5,504 

Dividend paid with $4,000. Total $17,169 $17,169 

xo. Deposit from 9th year $5,504 

2,500 bunches plantains, $312; corn, $200; cacao, 

350 centner, $17,500 18,325 

Total expenses for culture, etc $6,015 

Dividend on shares paid with 60 per cent 12,000 

Cash deposited with C. T 5.501 

Dividend paid with $12,000. Total $23,516 $23,516 

100 



3 1. Deposit from loth year $5)5oo 

Last crop of plantains, $200 ; no corn this year ; 

cacao, 450 centner, ?i22, 500 22,700 

Total expenses for culture, sacks, machinery, etc. $6,555 

Dividend on shares paid with 80 per cent 16,000 

Cash deposited with C. T - 5,645 

Dividend paid with $16,000. Total. ..... .$28,200 $28,200 

12. Deposit from nth year $5,645 

Corn, $200 ; Cacao, 600 centner, $30,000 30,200 

Total expenses for culture, etc $6,595 

Dividend shares paid with 100 per cent 20,000 

Cash deposited with C. T 9,250 

Dividend paid with $20,000. Total $35,845 $35,845 

13. Deposits from 12th year $9,250 

Corn, $200 ; cacao, 700 centner 35»20o 

Total expenses for culture, new houses, etc. . . . 9,075 
Dividend on shares paid with 20,000 

Cash deposited with C. T i5,375 

Dividend paid with $20,000. Total . . • $44,450 S44,45o 

14. Deposits from 13th year $i5»375 

Corn, l^^oo ; cacao, 800 centner 40,200 

Total expenses for culture, fencing, sacks, wagons 

and horses 9»075 

Dividend on shares paid with 100 per cent. . . . 20,000 
Cash deposited with C. T 26,500 

Dividend paid with |2o,oo. Total $55,575 $55,575 

15. Deposit from 14th year $26,500 

Corn, I200 ; cacao, 900 centner, $45,000 45f20O 

Total expenses for culture, sacks, repairs on fences 

and houses $8,275 

Dividend on shares paid with 200 per cent .... 40,000 
Cash deposited with C. T 23,425 

Dividend paid with $40,000. Total $7i,7oo $7ii7oo 

i6. Deposit from 15th year $23,425 

Corn, |2oo ; cacao, 1,000 centner, 150,000 .... ;^50,200 

Total expenses, for culture, sacks, repairs, etc. . $8,275 
Total amount deposited with company treasurer . 65,350 

Dividend in treasurer's hands, $65,356. Total . . $73,625 $73,625 

RECAPITULATION. 

Capital invested, |2o,ooo. Total dividends paid upon said 
capital during 16 years, $203,350, or about $12,700 per year. 

lOI 



The value of the share of the company's property the r6th; 
year stands as follows : 

50,000 cacao trees at $2 with land |ioo,ooo 

70 manzanas pasture land at $50 3.500 

Houses with 5 manzanas grounds 3,000 

Fences 1,000 

Machines and implements 3,000 

Wagong, horses and boat 360 

Harnesses and saddles 100 

Furniture for house and office 190 

Total value of property |ii 1,150 

You will have observed, that any income from small items 
of husbandry, as garden stuffs, fowls, dairy products, etc. , 
is not quoted, because household and farm-hands generally 
consume them, with or without permission. 

Also your attention must certainly have been drawn to the 
large yearly deposit with the company treasurer. If a single 
party is owner of the plantation, of course no deposit is 
necessary ; but in a share company a different arrange- 
ment has to be followed. Shareholders may more or less 
neglect to pay in due time, or disunion to be settled may 
create delay in payments ; but the cacao culture does not 
permit of any delay in the settlement of expenses, for the 
plantation will become crippled, or even killed under the 
quick tropical vegetation. Therefore, a deposit, sufficiently 
large, to carry on the work under arising controversies, is 
required. 

A cacao plantation, similar to the one under discussion, 
will continue for an unlimited future in full bearing power, if 
duly attended to. Without regular attention, the trees will 
turn sylvan and their fruit diminish in quantity or even dis- 
appear. If you or your friends make up your mind to 
start a cacao farm on shares, then you had better elect 
among yourselves an administrator, who can always be 
present on the farm and conduct the work. 

Respectfully, 

John Schroeder. 

riDanner of Cultivating Cocoa anb lestimateb 

profits* 

Selection of Land. — The lands best adapted to the cocoa 
or " cacao " growing should be of a dark, vegetable, alluvial 



soil slightly mixed with sand and clay. Thev^ need to contain a 
great deal of moisture, and for that reason level ground, with 
rivers or streams running through it, is preferable, as the rain 
water, or that from the irrigating ditches, flowing slowly, has 
ample time to penetrate to the roots of the trees. Foot-hills, 
having sufficient moisture, are also desirable, but it must be re- 
membered that, though damp soil is necessary to the whole- 
some growth of the plant, deposits of water produce a con- 
trary effect and rot the roots of the trees. The temperature 
required must not fall below 74° F. nor rise above 100° F. 
Virgin land, forests especially, is doubtless the best, as in it 
is found the richness of soil required, and in case of forests, 
the amount of shelter necessary for growing cacao, without 
incurring the extra expense of planting shade. 

Preparing the Land. — If the plantation is to be started 
on forest land, no other preparation is needed except to clear 
away all the underbrush ; but if the land selected has been 
previously cultivated with other products, it is probably 
destititute of adequate shading, which must be at once 
supplied. 

Shading. — This is absolutely necessary to protect the trees 
from the direct raysof thesun, and, whennot furnished by nature, 
must be provided at least six months in advance of the trans- 
planting of the cocoa trees. The banana-tree may be used as a 
provisional shade, and must be planted at the same time that 
the coral-tree (Erythrina), generally called " madre de cacao" 
(mother of cocoa), which is usually the one adopted as the 
permanent shade tree. The banana tree grows very rapidly, 
thus affording in time the required shade for the newly trans- 
planted cocoa-trees, but, while the latter grow to a height of 
eighteen or twenty feet, the banana only reaches that of eight 
or ten feet, and soon fails to accomplish the desired object ; 
hence the necessity of having a tree like the *' madre de 
•cocoa," which grows as high as sixty feet. 

After having cleared the land, and placed the stakes in 

103 



straight parallel lines — thirteen or fifteen feet apart — to indi- 
cate the spot where the cocoa-trees are to be inserted, the 
planting of the banana-trees is done; these are arranged in 
such a manner as to supply the necessary shade, and not in- 
terfere with the growth of the coral-trees. The latter develop 
from four seeds, placed around the stakes at a distance of 
twenty inches. The object of planting four seeds is to allow 
a selection from the four trees — or as many of them as may^ 
thrive — of the most perfect, leaving it thereto fulfill its mission 
as guardian, while the others, being unrequired, are uprooted 
and cast out. The banana-trees may be destroyed as soon as 
the " madre de cacao " has developed sufficiently to furnish 
the necessary protection from the rays of the sun. 

Nurseries. — The preparation of a nursery for cacao is very- 
much the same as for coffee ; therefore, seed plots of about 
twelve inches in height, forty-eight inches in width, and of any 
desired length, have to be made. These are then provided 
with shade, and ditches are left between them to irrigate the 
beds frequently. The seeds must be of the best quality ; 
those are considered such which were gathered from the 
thoroughly ripened pods, growing on the branches of the tree, 
and not on the trunk itself. 

After the seeds have been taken out of the pods, they are 
put into water for about twenty -four hours, in order to soften 
the cuticle which surrounds them; this simplifies the operation 
of separating the skin from the grain. Some planters cut the 
cuticle lengthwise before putting the seeds into the water, but 
this plan, besides being more laborious, is somewhat risky, as 
the grain, itself, may be injured while making the incision. 
At the expiration of the twenty-four hours the seeds are 
planted, one by one, at distances of about twelve inches. 
After that, care must be taken to keep the seed-plots 
perfectly free from weeds and thoroughly irrigated. Nurse- 
ries can be started at almost any time, but the months of 
October and November are preferable, as by April or March. 



104 



foUowihg, the tree will be ready for transplanting, and may 
derive the benefits of the rainy season, which begins at 
that epoch. 

Planting. — This is done generally at the beginning of the 

rainy season. In place of the stake inserted in the ground, 

several months before, we now plant one of the trees, taken 

' out of the nurseiy with its roots surrounded by a square lump 

of the earth in which it grew. 

Cultivation. — After the tree has been located definitely, 
with the shade necessary for its proper growth, the work is 
simply that of keeping the land free of weeds and well irri- 
gated ; paying, besides, some attention to the unnecessary 
suckers and shoots, which must be destroyed to give greater 
vigor to the main tree. Thirty months after the tree has 
been transplanted, it begins to bloom, but this florescence 
must not be allowed to develop, for it would rob, prema- 
turely, some of the strength of the tree ; hence it must be 
.taken down. 

Harvesting, Etc. — When the plantation is between three 
and a half and four years old, the first regular crop appears; 
the trunk and the branches being then covered, from top to 
bottom, with pods. After that the crops occur twice a year^ 
about the months of July and December, but pods, green 
and ripe, are found in blossom at all times ; therefore, gather- 
ings may be done, once or twice a week, and even daily, ac- 
cording to the size of the plantation. The production con- 
tinues to increase until the eighth year ; after that, it is more 
or less even for forty years or more. 

The pods are from ten to twelve inches long, and resemble 
a musk-melon ; they grow from the branches and trunks of 
the trees, and are considered fully ripe when their green 
color has become a slightly yellowish or reddish tint ; this 
occurs about four months after the blossom has appeared. The 
pods are pulled down from the trees, and the nuts taken out 
of them by simply breaking or cutting the pod in two. The 

105 



nuts are then placed for twenty-four hours in a tank of water, 
and constantly stirred about to destroy the mucilage-like 
substance which adheres to them ; then they are taken out 
and spread on a patented stone or " patio " to dry in the sun. 
The drying process may be done in stoves, or other machines 
similar to those used for coffee. When the nuts are thoroughly 
dried, the cacao is ready for the market, and the planter, to 
reap the large profits invariably derived from the production 
of this article, the cultivation of which has required so little 
skill, machinery, capital or labor. Every tree is calculated to 
yield about fifty pods, each containing about forty grains ; 
fifteen grains weighing about one ounce ; thus a single tree's 
production is estimated in six and one-third pounds. 

Sugar-cane, 

Although sugar-cane grows well almost all over the country 
and is extensively cultivated, sugar does not as yet constitute 
one of the exporting articles, and probably will not as long as 
there are products like coffee, bananas, cocoa, etc., which 
bring to the planters handsomer profits. This article is, 
therefore, produced merely to supply the local demands ; but 
even so, there is always a scarcity of it which requires large 
importations of foreign sugar. 

The sugar-cane is used largely in Costa Rica as forage, in 
the manufacture of whiskey or " aguardiente " ; and to pro- 
duce the raw sugar or " dulce " which is consumed entirely 
by country people. There are no refineries, but there are a 
few establishments, which make granulated and lump sugar of 
a rather light color, by the centrifugal process ; these, and the 
imported sugar are eaten by people living in the cities, and 
very rarely anywhere else ; the " dulce " being preferred by 
country people, not so much because of its cheaper price, as 
for its strong taste to which they are accustomed. 

Acreage of the Sugar-cane Cultivated, and the Amount of 
sugar and " Dulce " Produced in il 

io6 



Provinces. 




1"^ 




j; 

3 u 


V 

^(5 




Sanjos^ . . 


. 4,819 


170,200 


6,255,100 


$20,424 


$625,510 


$645,934 


Alajuela . . 


■ 5.076 


794,800 


9,242,000 


95,376 


924,200 


1,019,576 


Cartago . . 


. 1,466 


394,500 


878,600 


47,340 


87,860 


135,200 


Heredia . . 


• 1,114 


— 


1,446,400 


— 


144,640 


144,640 


Guanacaste . 


■ 719 


— 


406,600 


— 


40,660 


40,600 


Puntarenas . 


• 1,471 


— 


207,000 


— 


20,700 


20,700 


Limon . . . 


122 


8,500 


18,300 


1,020 


1,830 


2,850 



Total . . 14,787 1,368,000 18,454,000 $164,160 $1,845,400 $2,009,560 
Added to the ^2,009,560 worth of sugar and " dulce" pro- 
duced in the country, there was ^83,125 of foreign sugar 
imported, making a total consumption of ^^ 2, 092, 68 5 for the 
year 1889. 

The manner in which sugar-cane is cultivated is so simple, 
it would hardly seem proper to give a description of it here ; 
but this much may be said : — Sugar-cane, in Costa Ricea, 
grows extremely tall and stout, and unlike that raised in other 
countries, does not need to be replanted every two or three 
years. If due care is taken, the plant will give satisfactory 
results for a term of from five to seven years. 

Cotton an^ TObeat, 

The first of these products received considerable attention 
many years ago, when it was cultivated, spun and woven into 
cloth by the natives. The improved and increased means of 
communication with the outer world gradually brought about 
many ghanges ; among these was the introduction of cotton 
fabrics from foreign ports. The lower prices and the better 
quality of these imported goods compelled the primitive mills 
to stop working, and the cotton fields to be abandoned. 

Wheat, too, was formerly produced in sufficient quantities 
to supply the local demands, and was ground into flour by 
means of small mills of the most primeval order. The culti- 
vation of this grain to-day is badly neglected, and the quanti- 
ties produced fall far short of satisfying the demand. This is 

107 



due entirely to the reasons given before regarding other pro- 
ducts : — Viz., scarcity of and high prices paid for labor, and 
the existence of more profitable industries. In the face of these 
facts, it is easy to understand how Costa Rica introduces foreign 
flour, and even the vi^heat required for the running of a recently 
established mill which possesses all the modern improvements. 

Table Showing the Amount of Wheat and Flour Intro- 
duced IN THE Years 1884, 1886, 1887, 1888, 1889. 

Amount of Amount of 

Wheat Flour Total of 

Years. in Pounds. in Pounds. Wheat and Flour. 

1884 158,972 158,972 

1886 15,898 283,064 298,^62 

1887 72,270 125,153 197,423 

1888 9,507 167,319 176,826 

1889 26,822 209,150 235,972 

124,497 943.658 1,068,155 

This official record shows that wheat was planted in 1888 
in the provinces of Alajuela and Heredia. In the first of 
these 59.50 bushels, of which were harvested 226.33 bushels, 
thus yielding a proportion of four to one. In the province 
of Heredia 57.85 bushels were sown, and 564.36 bushels were 
gathered ; a proportion of ten to one. 

Table Showing the Amount of Wheat Sown and Har- 
vested in 1888. 

Number of Number ot 

Bushels Bushels Rates of 

Counties. Planted. Harvested. Production. 

Alajuela ii-35 82.04 7.22 to i 

Grecia 22.70 66.41 2.93 to r 

Naranjo 25.45 77-88 3.06 to i 

Total for the Province 

of Alajuela . . . . 59.50 226.33 3.80 to i 

Heredia 12.77 56-74 4-43 to i 

Santo Domingo .... 18.21 223.92 12.29101 

San Rafael 26.87 283.70 10.55 to i 

Total for the Province 

of Heredia . . . . 57.85 564-36 9.75101 

Grand Total . . . . 117.35 790.69 6.7410 i 

108 



The number of acres planted in the province of Alajuela 
was 39.66, which yielded at the rate of 5 .70 bushels per acre ; 
in Heredia 38.56 acres, which yielded at the average rate of 
14.53 bushels per acre ; making the total average ten bushels 
per acre. The county of Santo Domingo produced as high 
as 18.44 bushels per acre, and San Rafael, 15.84 bushels per 
acre. Comparing these results with those of the United 
States, shows that only Wyoming yields 19.5 bushels more 
than St. Domingo, while there are but ten states which produce 
more than San Rafael. On the other hand there are twenty 
states where the production falls below that of Heredia, and 
ten others which do not reach the average production of 
Costa Rica. 

Cocoanute* 

The cocoanut grows in the warmer portions of Costa Rica, 
and particularly well on the coasts, where the forests are 
thickly studded with these gigantic trees. The fruit has had 
only a limited local demand, and but recently became an ex- 
port. If the demand of the foreign ports should ever exceed 
the supply, now found growing in a wild state in the forests, 
the forming of regular plantations could be done very easily 
at a nominal cost, as it needs no special oversight or much 
labor to cultivate this tree, whose fruit has such a multiplicity 
of useful qualities. Heretofore, a few banana growers or 
other farmers on the coast have planted a small number of 
these trees, more with the intention of beautifying their estates, 
than with that of deriving any pecuniary benefit from them, 

IRicc, Beans ant) Corn. 

These three products constitute the principal articles of food 
for the peasants of Costa Rica, and are also seen frequently 
on the tables of the well-to-do classes. 

The cultivation of rice in Costa Rica demands very little 
care and no irrigation to produce two crops a year of a very 

109 



superior quality of grain ; but, owing to the causes so fre- 
quently mentioned in this pamphlet, there is not enough pro- 
duced for home consumption, and foreign rice has to be 
imported to make up the deficiency. 

Beans and corn are grown almost all over the country, 
especially the latter, of which three crops a year is not an un- 
common occurence in a number of places. It seems almost 
incredible, that with such wonderful facilities, there should be 
occasion to import, at times, even the necessaries of life which 
would grovv^ so well and abundantly in the country ; but such 
is the lamentable fact, which goes to prove once more that 
Costa Rica's small population are so fully engrossed in one or 
two wonderfully profitable enterprises, that many other pur- 
suits, perhaps not equally advantageous, are somewhat disre- 
garded. These are waiting for the current of immigration, 
anxiously desired by the natives, who would gladly see 
strangers building large fortunes in a short time, in exchange 
for the benefits derived by the inhabitants from a larger pro- 
duction, and greater development of the natural resources of 
this marvelous country. 

The following table will show the number of pounds of rice, 
beans and corn planted in each of the provinces of Costa 
Rica ; giving the production of each article, and the rates 
of the seeds sown, to the amount harvested in i: 



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Table showing the number of acres planted with Rice, Beans 
AND Corn, and the number of bushels that each acre 

YIELDED, IN 1888, — BY COUNTIES. 
Counties. , —Rice. 



< 

San ]os6 — 

Escasu — 

Desamparados .... 4.13 

Punscal 16.69 

Aserri 4.35 

Mora 49-12 

Total for the Province 

of San Jos6 . . . . 74.29 

Alajuela 54.53 

San Rani6n 60.20 

Grecia 10.08 

Naranjo 8.72 

Atenas 11^.62 

San Matos 4i-93 

Palmares — 

Total for the Province 

of Alajuela .... 288.08 

Cartago — 

Paraiso 86.90 

La Union — 

Total for the Province 

of Cartago . . . . 86.90 

Heredia — 

Barba — 

Santo Domingo .... — 

Santa Barbara .... — 

San Rafael — 

Total for the Province 

of Heredia .... — 

Liberia 23.28 

Nicoya 37-15 

Santa Cruz 5.04 

Bagaces 5.19 

Caiias — 

Total for Guanacaste, 70.66 

Puntarenas 26.78 

Esparta 231.98 

Golfo Dulce 136.17 

Total for Puntarenas, 394.93 

Total for the Republic,9i4.86 61.27 3.791-75 28.03 16,863.48 41.25 

"3 



rt2 




rt2 


t 




1-. <U 01 


i- 


















< 0. 


< 




< 


>-5 
< 0. 


— 


123.72 


14.06 


412.00 


42.94 





739.90 


12.20 


1,430.70 


53.41 


15-96 


335-56 


18.55 


826.20 


16.57 


36-17 


149.26 


37-78 


412.00 


42.92 


81.06 


30-73 


76.02 


655-34 


28.56 


82.96 


130.40 
1,509-57 


26.94 
18.87 


306.73 
4,042.97 


33.27 


68.61 


38.18 


141.93 


243.82 


38.38 


828.09 


66.69 


60.27 


196.20 


46.50 


2,287.33 


34-50 


38.39 


99.90 


24.07 


839.44 


33-73 


31-99 


153-66 


18.11 


590.96 


59-64 


50.34 


270.98 


16.99 


307,33 


21.43 


17734 


23-50 


2397 


186.13 


44.98 


— 


100.87 
1,088.93 


22.50 
28.47 


504-22 
5,543-50 


33-75 


83.10 


41-43 


— 


61.37 


57-27 


1,483-74 


54-34 


9-74 


564.40 


56-48 


2,576.89 


34-40 


— 


7.22 


33-56 
56.29 


109.38 
4,170.01 


49.88 


9-74 


632.99 


41.90 


— 


323.26 


20.18 


874.73 


45-03 


— 


9-83 


15.00 


68.94 


78.03 


— 


I-51 


15.02 


222.86 


20.36 


— 


.94 


12.06 


156.14 


49.07 


— 


15-75 
351-29 


iS.oi 


270.14 
1,592.81 


47.52 


— 


19.89 


43.78 


77.86 


44-38 


19.06 


249.57 


46.86 


18.05 


7-52 


71.24 


137.22 


61.74 


29.99 


11-95 


14.22 


162.34 


92.31 


ie.8i 


13.02 


8.69 


220.97 


27.23 


— 


7-57 


33-32 
22.70 


26.40 


41.09 


38.22 


84.44 


796.50 


53-o6 


102.64 


23-35 


20.89 


298.70 


43-96 


76.26 


91.72 


18.04 


258.42 


31-32 


22.27 


9.46 
124.53 


11.67 


160.57 
717.69 


22.77 


59-43 


18.09 


34.66 



potatoee* 

The potatoes cultivated are of an extremely fine quality 
and, if planted in proper soil and at suitable elevations, the 
production is large. At present, the real potato is seen only 
in the provinces of Cartago and Alajuela. Here it is planted 
with great success on the hillsides, and a careful study of the 
country will show that many other places are well adapted for 
potato cultivation. As the railroads are completed, this will 
be an important and remunerative article, if exported to Col- 
ombia and neighboring States, where a more tropical climate 
renders their growth impossible. 

Sarsaparilla an^ IDantlla, 

These, like the india-rubber, are natural products which 
grow in the forests without any cultivation or care of any 
kind. Both are valuable commercial articles and are largely 
exported to foreign markets. 

tobacco. 

The quality of the tobacco produced in Costa Rica is known 
to be excellent, and previous to the time it became a govern- 
ment monopoly, large quantities were exported. A few years 
ago the Government, wishing to have this agricultural indus- 
try revived, granted full liberty for its cultivation, restricting 
only its sale, which continued a national monopoly. 

The trial proved then, in regard to tobacco, the same truth 
that has been made evident with many other products which 
grow easily and well in the republic ; that while the scarcity 
of labor and the consequent high prices demanded for it pre- 
vail in Costa Rica, no attractions will divert the efforts of the 
people from the production of coffee, bananas, etc., which 
yield such surprisingly large profits. 

The quantity of tobacco raised was not a success, as few 
would engage in its cultivation ; hence the Government was 
compelled to continue importing it to supply local demands. 

114 



Table showing the tobacco imported into Costa Rica dur- 
ing the years 1884, 1886, 1887, 1888 and i! 





Leal 






Chewing- 




Years. 


Tobacco. 


Cigars. 


Cigarettes. 


Tobacco. 


Total. 


1884 . 


• 4,207 


14,296 


978 


16,616 


36,097 


1886 . 


. 95,818 


11,841 


2,298 


— 


109,957 


1887 . 


. 91,207 


9.274 


3.902 


— 


104,383 


1888 . 


. 84,282 


12,723 


3.056 


— 


100,061 


1889 . 


. 132,291 


15,628 


4,128 


— 


152,047 



Total . 407,805 63,762 14,362 16,616 



502,545 



The Castilloa elastica is found growing wild in a great 
many of the virgin forests of the country, and the india-rubber 
extracted from it has always been one of the prominent ex- 
ports of the republic ; adding, thereby, a generous share to its 
wealth. 

The abuses committed by the india-rubber hunters, who, in 
order to gather the valuable gum in as short a time as pos- 
sible, often ruined the trees with the careless process adopted 
by them for this purpose, have compelled the Government to 
issue a decree prohibiting the extraction of this substance 
from the national lands without a special permit. 

This has been freely granted, however, to any individual or 
company who has solicited the right, and guaranteed the non- 
destruction of the trees. Then, again, the Government, de- 
sirous of encouraging the increase of such a profitable pro- 
duct, the cultivation of which is so easy and inexpensive, has 
offered large rewards to those who undertake to plant a cer- 
tain number of the india-rubber producing trees. 

flnbigo. 

This is another child of the Costa Rican soil. The condi- 
tions in many localities are highly conducive to an extensive 
growth of the " giquislite " from which the indigo is extracted, 
but since chemical substances have been introduced in the 



"5 



place of vegetal le dyes, indigo has received scant attention, 
and is produced in only very small quantities. 

llnMocnoua ifrults an^ 1Rew Culture. 

Nearly everywhere among the plantations are found edible 
fruits, which are not, at present, objects of special culture 

There can be little doubt that scientific study and experi- 
ment will enable nature to perfect the present indigenous 
fruits, and even produce new and improved varieties. Among 
the most important, but neglected, species are — oranges, 
limes, peaches, figs, quinces and pomegranates. Nearly all 
fruits imported from the United States and Europe thrive ad- 
mirably on the plateau. The local fruits of a more tropical 
origin are very profuse ; the most important are pineapples, 
aguacates, anonas, sapotes, papaws, jocotes, mangle, grena- 
dilla and cocoanuts. In addition to these are the fruits of 
several palms, those of two cacti and a host of others of less 
importance. Other products of this order that are important 
to the settlers, since they form a part of staple food, are ton.a- 
toes, egg-plants, pimento, water-melons, ayote, chayote, zapo- 
ote and other fruits of various cucurbitacee. 

The following sworn statement from a prominent citizen of 
the United States is quite sufficient to prove that the develop- 
ment of agricultural products can in no wise be exaggerated. 

Affidavit of Charles de Martin in Regard to the 

Resources of Costa Rica, Judging Them by His 

Practical Experience. 

I, Charles de Martin, citizen of the United States, and 
recently from Calistoga, California, wishing to make this 
report reliable for all to judge of the wonderful resources of 
Costa Rica, swear that what I below relate is the strict 
truth. 

Having heard for some time a great deal of Costa Rica, I 
determined to leave California for a while and find out for 
myself what had been told me. I arrived here on the 8th 
of Octobei: of 1887, spent some time in search of a nice 
piece of land, which, besides being situated near the capital, 

116 



I could buy cheap. I finally succeeded in securing a lot 
of over two acres, and also succeeded in having the Govern- 
ment send to California for cuttings. They were sent here 
in the steamer Honduras, and they laid sixty-nine days on 
the way. Most of them arrived in a condition not fit to be 
planted; nevertheless, the few that reached here in good 
condition I planted with the following result: 

Japanese Quince, planted May 15, 1888 (14 months 
ago), has had two small crops already. 

Apples, planted May 15, 1888 (14 months ago), have a 
height of seven feet, and a trunk of six inches in circum- 
ference at one foot from the ground. 

Figs, planted May 15, 1888 (14 months ago), have had 
three crops; the trunk being seven inches in circumference. 
The first cuttings having reached here almost all useless, I 
ordered more, which came in good condition, and are now 
planted, giving the most encouraging results. 

Vine Tokay, planted May 15, 1888 (14 months ago), 
gave the first fruit on the 4th of July, 1889, on the 3d 
of August, on the 12th of May of 1889, on the 4th of 
July, 1889, on the 15th of July, 1889, and still there is some 
more. The cuttings taken from this vine, which were 
planted in November, 1888 (8 months ago), are now four 
feet nine inches high and two and a half inches in circum- 
ference. 

Olives, planted September 17, 1888 (10 months ago), 
are now six feet high and two and a half inches in circum- 
ference. 

Winter Nel Pears, planted January 22, 1889, have a 
height of six feet and three inches in circumference. 

Egg Plums, planted January 22, 1889 (6 months ago), 
are eight feet high and three and a half inches in circum- 
ference. 

French Prunes, planted January 22, 1889 (6 months 
ago), are eight feet high and three and a half inches in cir- 
cumference. 

Peach Trees, planted January 22, 1889 (6 months 
ago), are eight feet ten inches high, and five inches in cir- 
cumference, and already bringing forth fruit. The Zealand 
Peaches, about three years old, can produce twenty dol- 
lars worth of fruit, and are just as good for canning as the 

117 



California ones, which at home in cans is worth fifteen cents, 
while here they are sold at seventy-five cents each. 

Apricots, planted January 22, 1889 (6 months ago), are 
five feet high. 

No one, judging from the foregoing information, can deny 
the fact, that this is a marvelous country. The soil all over 
the Republic is of such richness, that even the proud Cali- 
fornian who boasts of the fertiUty of his country, seeing the 
fertility and productiveness of this soil, almost imagines his 
country to be a desert. 

The natives are industrious, in their own way, and 
although knowing positively nothing about agriculture, 
produce coffe, cocoa, vanilla, bananas, cocoa-nuts, rubber, 
potatoes, peaches, quinces, wheat, rice, corn, etc. ; in fact, all 
the fruits and vegetables of the Torrid Zone. In conclusion I 
will add something about corn, marblehead cabbages, straw- 
berries and artichokes, that I have under cultivation. 

Corn, planted April 17th (three months ago), is twelve 
and a half feet high, and the ears are plentiful and very 
large. The corn here gives from two to four crops a year. 

Strawberries bear all the year round, and in the most 
abundant manner. 

Marblehead Cabbages, planted April 17th, 1889, have 
cabbages so beautiful and sweet as would surprise any one ; 
the weight of them is from ten to twelve pounds each. 

Artichokes, planted in November, 1888, are bearing 
from five to seven each. 

It is the general opinion among my American friends 
here, that people from the States who would come with a 
few hundred dollars, and knowing something of agriculture, 
could make an independent fortune in a very short time, 
especially when, added to the advantages already described, 
you have a Government disposed to protect foreigners ; 
and the country has so many facilities for transportation, 
which, together with the high prices of products, the efforts 
of a farmer would be more than sufficiently compensated. 

The price of grapes here is one dollar a pound, apples 
fifteen to twenty-five cents a piece, pears twenty-five to 
forty cents each, etc. 

I hope this information, which in every respect is a true 
one, may induce some of my countrymen, who are not well 
rewarded, to come to Costa Rica, as I am fully convinced 
that before long they will gladly thank 

(Signed) Charles de Martin. 
San Jose, Costa Rica, July 15th, 1889. 

118 



The undersigned, Notary Public of this RepubHc, certi- 
fies that the foregoing signature that reads ' ' Charles de 
Martin," is authentic, and was made in my presence. 

(Signed) Ricardo Jimenez. 
San Jose, July 20th, 1889. 

The undersigned Assistant Secretary of the Departments 
of State and Justice of Costa Rica ; 

Hereby certifies : that the foregoing signature that reads 
" Ricardo Jimenez, " is authentic. 

(Signed) Alberto Brenes. 
National Palace. San Jose, July 20th, 1889. 

Consulate of the United States of America. 

San Jose, Costa Rica, July 22d, 1889. 

I hereby certify that the signature " Alberto Brenes" of 
the precedent certificate, is authentic, and that the said Al- 
berto Brenes is the Assistant Secretary of State of the Re- 
public of Costa Rica. Witness my hand and Consular 
Seal. (Signed) J. Richard Wingfield. 

Fee to 84. $2.50 U. S. gold. 

Paid— J. R. W. 

From the Official Gazette, Number 167, of July the 20th, 
1889. 

Number 47. 
National Palace, San Jose, July i8th, 1889. 

In view of the documents formulated on account of the 
memorial presented by Mr. Charles de Martin, citizen of the 
United States of America, who now resides in this city, and 
whereby he asks this Government to place him in possession 
of the land inscribed in the Public Records, in the part 
corresponding to the Province of San Jos6, volume 187, 
page 523, number 7856, and entry number 8 ; basing his 
demand on what was stipulated on the third clause of the 
contract which he made with this Department of Interior on 
the 15th of November, of 1887, to direct the works of plant- 
ing and cultivating the vine in a place near this city. 
considering : 

That in said contract it was agreed that the Government 
would donate to Mr. Martin the land cultivated, as has 
already been mentioned ; and which donation would be con- 
sidered as a compensation for his work, provided that, if 
after eighteen months counted since the first of January of 
1888, Mr. Martin had obtained good results in the cultiva- 
tion of the vine, according to a report given by experts. 

119 



CONSIDERING : 

That the report given by the experts John Richard Wing- 
field and Enrique Jimenez Nunez, to be found on pages 
three and four of the documents formulated, and wherein it 
is stated that the results obtained by Mr. Martin in the culti- 
vation of the vine are fully satisfactory ; reason by which he 
has become entitled to have the donation which he now asks 
for ; the Vice-President in charge of the Executive power 

COMMANDS, 

that the necessarj^ instructions be given to the Land Depart- 
ment, so that they should proceed at once to make a deed 
of donation of said i)roperty, as a recompense to the work 
performed, in accordance with his contract of November 15, 
1887. ^ 

Let it be published. 

Signed by the Vice-President, 

(Signed) ZuNiGA. 

El infrascrito Encargado de Negocios de la Republica de 
Costa Rica en Washington. Hace constar ; que lo anterior 
es una traduccion fiel del documento original. 
Washington, D. C, Marzo 9 de 1S91. 

Anselmo Volio. 
[seal.] 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 

DEPARTMENT OF STATE. 

To all to whom these p7'esents shall co7ne, Greetmg : 

I certify, that Anselmo Volio, whose name is subscribed 
to the paper hereunto annexed is now, and was at the time 
of subscribing the same, Charg^ d' Affaires ad interim of 
Costa Rica, at W^ashington, D. C, duly commissioned; and 
that full faith and confidence are due to his acts as such. 

In testimony whereof, I, James G. Blaine, Secre- 
tary of State of the United States, have 
hereunto subscribed my name and caused 
the seal of the Department of State to be 
[seal.] affixed. 

Done at the City of Washington, this i6th 
day of March, A. D. 1891, and of the In- 
dependence of the United States of America 
the one hundred and fifteenth. 

James G. Blaine. 



Many hard working men have found it difficult to make 
lOO, or even i,ooo acres of land in the United States produce 
a fair living. 

For the benefit of those, I introduce here a table showing 
the expense of production in Costa Rica, compared to that of 
the United States, and I wish again to remind the reader that 
cultivations can be so arranged, as to assure an almost per- 
petual harvest. 

Comparative ZTable of jErpenec of production 

anb 1Ret profit in Costa IRica an^ tbe 

'mnite^ States. 

For One Acre of Land Cultivated with Tropical 
Plants in Costa Rica. 

One acre is equal to 4,840 square yards or 0.576 of a manzana. 

Coffee. 

Total Expense $136.22 

Total Production, 2,016 pounds, at 40 cts . 806.42 

Net Profit $674.18 

Cacao. 

Total Expense $94.46 

Total Production, 864 pounds, at 70 cents . 604.80 

Net Profit $510.34 

Sugar-Cane. 

Total Expense $100.22 

Total Production, 6,760 pounds, " dulce " 

at 4 cents 230.40 

Net Profit $150.18 

Rice, 

Total Expense $50-40 

Total Production, 2,764 pounds, at 11 cents, 304.12 

Net Profit $253-72 

121 



Beans. 

Total Expense $10.94 

Total Production, 950 pounds, at $7.27 per 

quintal 69.06 

Net Profit $58.12 

Corn. 

Total Expense . $22.46 

Total Production, 1,647 pounds, at I4. 23 

per quintal 69.06 

Net Profit $48.60 

Bananas. 

Total Expense $58.17 

Total Production, 1.555 bunches at 30 cents, 466.50 

Net Profit $408.33 

Potatoes-. 

Total Expense $86.97 

Total Production, 380 bushels, at $12.00 for 

II bushels 414.00 

Net Profit $327.03 

Tobacco. 

Total Expense $190.65 

Total Production, 576 pounds, at $1.00 . . 576.00 

Net Profit $385.85 

The calculations herein contained about the production, etc., 
of the United States have their foundation on figures taken 
from several publications of the Department of Agriculture, 
Washington, D. C. 

The prices of corn, wheat, etc., etc., are the general average 
price given by the same Department. 

By the foregoing table can be noticed that the maximum 
and minimum of production, in 1894, of the different articles 
therein mentioned was as follows : 

Corn. 
New Hampshire, 52.4 bushels per acre, valued at $23.95 max. 
South Dakota . . 3.7 " " " 1.69 min. 

122 



New Mexico, . 
South Dakota 



Montana . . . 
South Dakota 

Indiana . . . . 
South Dakota 



Oregon . . 

Nebraska . 



Oregon . . 

Nebraska . 

Connecticut 
Maryland . 

Idaho . . , 
Nebraska . 



Nevada . 
Nebraska 



Wheat. 
36.2 bushels per acre, valued at $17.77 niax. 



4.0 



1.96 mm. 



Oats. 



40.1 bushels per acre, valued at $12.99 max. 



7.6 



2.46 mm. 



Rye. 

. 19.3 bushels per acre, valued at $9.67 max. 

.4.5 " " " 2.25 min. 

Barley. 

. 38.6 bushels per acre, valued at $17.06 max. 

. 5.7 " " '• 2.52 min. 

Buckwheat. 

. 38.0 bushels per acre, valued at $21.12 max. 

. 3.7 ■' " " 2.05 min. 

Tobacco. 

1,516 pounds per acre, valued at $103.08 max. 

. 590 " " " 40. 12 min. 

Potatoes. 

178.0 bushels per acre, valued at #95.40 max. 

22.0 " " " 11.70 min. 

Hay. 

.4.0 tons per acre, valued at $34. i6ma.x. 

0.5 " '' " 4.27 min. 



Therefore, the article that paysbestis tobacco, when planted 
in the State of Connecticut that yields 1,5 16 pounds per acre, 
and its value amount to ;^ 103. 08. 

Another product which gives a fair income is potatoes, 
when planted in the State of Idaho, that yield per acre 178 
bushels, and its value amount to ;^95.30. 

The next best are : 

Hay, in Navada, that yields 4.0 tons per acre, valued 
at ;^34-i6. 

Corn, in New Hampshire, that yields 52.4 bushels per acre, 
valued at ^23.95. 

Buckwheat, in Oregon, that yields 38.0 bushels per acre, 
valued at ;^2i.i2. 



123 



Wheat, in New Mexico, that yields 36.2 bushels per acre, 
valued at ;^ 17.77. 

Barley, in Oregon, that yields 38.6 bushels per acre, valued 
at ;^ 1 7.06. 

Oats, in Montana, that yields 40.1 bushels per acre, valued 
at $12. gg. 

Rye, in Indiana, that yields 19.3 bushels per acre, valued 
at $9.67. 

The total number of acres planted in 1894 (in the United 
States) with the above-mentioned articles, was as follows : 



Products. 


Acres. 


Yielded. 


Value. 


Corn .... 


. 62,582,269 


1,212,770,052 bsh., 


$554-719.162 


Wheat . . . 


. 34,882,436 


460,267,416 " 


225,902,025 


Oats . . . 


27.023,553 


662,036,928 " 


214,816,920 


Rye . . . 


1,944,780 


26,727,615 " 


13.395,476 


Barley . . 


3,170,602 


61,400,465 " 


27,134,127 


Buckwheat. 


789,232 


12,668,209 " 


7,040,238 


Tobacco . . 


523.105 


406,678,385 lbs.. 


27.760,739 


Patatoes . . 


2,737.973 


170,787.338 bsh., 


91,526,787 


Hay . . . 


48,321,272 


54,874,408 tons. 


468.578,321 



Therefore, in the year 1894 there have been 181,975,220 
acres of land used up with the nine previously mentioned ar- 
ticles, which produced $1 ,630,875,795, or an average of ^8.96 
per acre. 

StocF^ Ifarmina* 

This industry is new and will be one of the promising occu- 
pations of the future. The cattle of Costa Rica are at present 
not sufficiently numerous to supply the local demand, but 
the forage, as can be seen in the table below, is abundantly 
able to support great herds of cattle. The food is vastly more 
abundant than in many parts of the United States. 

The + indicates the districts where each variety of forage 
grows. 

124 









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O 

>— 1 

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caslJ. 

sampa 

riscal. 


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u 


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3 


3 

a 




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a. 


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Tocillo .... 

ama 

lilamate . . . 

liia de cerro . . 

" " azucar . 

Ja de venado . 

[lurristate . . . 

uate 

ratna 

amalote .... 

uinea 

uacimo .... 

uasimero . . . 

[ilosaca .... 

ing^brillo . . . 

ngibre .... 

inquillo .... 

^ng^a de vaca . 
lalote 

ie de paloma 

arfi ..... . 

I'itilla 

""anza de burro . 
'latanillo .... 
^abanilla .... 
Sierra de gallo . 
rumbard .... 

Fasoro 

revcinte .... 

Zetilla 

Zacate amargo . 
" de guinea 
" '• castilla 
" " cerro . 
" " raton . 
" •• pard . 
" ancho . . 



+ . .+ 



+ 



+++.+ 



+++ 



+ 



+ 



+ 



+ 



. . - . + + 

+ . . .+ .++. . . + . . . +++++ + . 

■ + • + +++ . + . . . + 

.+ .+++. •■. + . + . .+ +++++++++ 

. . + . . + . .+.++. +++ . +++++ . ++++++ 



+ 



+ 



+ . + 

+++++++++++++++++++++ . . + . ++++ 



+ 



+ . +++++ .+.++. . ++ . ++++++++++ . . 
+++ . +++++ . ++++++ - ++++++++ . +++ 
+++ . . ++ . .++. + . . . + . . + + 



+ 



+ 



+ 



++ 



+ 



+ 



+ 



+ 



+++ .+++ . + . . .+++ •+ . . . 
+....++.. +++++ . + . +++ 
+ + .. + .. + 



+++ 



+ 



+ .+ 



+ . 
+4 



+ .+ 



+ 



+ 



125 



Domestic Animals on thk 

Provinces and Number of 

Comarcas. Cattle. 

San Jos^ 51,884 

Alajuela 62,410 

Cartage 48,555 

Heredia 35, 391 

Guanacaste .... 134,567 

Puntarenas .... 9,667 

Lim6n 3,191 

Total .... 345,665 

Consumption op" Beef in 



F.\KMS OF Costa Rica in 1892 



Number of 


Number of 


Number ut 


Horses. 


Sheep. 


Hogs. 


17,542 


1,538 


23,628 


16,774 


159 


16,185 


9,900 


715 


5,109 


6,380 


57 


13,241 


24,458 


296 


2,180 


1,721 


— 


1,128 


268 


— 


857 



77,043 



2,765 



62,228 



THE Provinces During 1891. 



Provinces. 



San Jos^ 



Alajuela . . 

Cartago . . 
Heredia . . 

Guanacaste 

Puntarenas 
Lim6n . . 



Counties. 

San Jose 
Escasu ♦ 

Desamparados 
Puriscal 
I Asseri 
Mora 
Tarrizu 
Goicoechea 

Alajuela 

San Ramon 

Grecia 

Atenas 

San Mateo 

Naranjo 

Palmares 

Cartago 
Paraiso 
La Uni6n 



Inhabitants 

39,112 

6,522 

6,471 

6,845 
6,030 

5.814 
2,583 
3,341 

19,300 
9,928 

8,797 
6,208 

3,353 
6,847 
2,770 

25,898 
7,819 
4,256 



Heredia 

Barba 

Santo Domingo 

Santa Barbara 

San Rafael 

Liberia 
Canas 
Bagaces 
Santa Cruz 

[ Nicoya 

/ Puntarenas 
\ Esparta 

Limon 



16,480 
2,964 
5>ii8 

2,845 
4,204 

5,883 
2,165 
1,476 
5,948 

4,577 

8,869 
3,298 

7,484 



Number of 
Cattle. 

9,132 
587 

r,o77 
408 
482 
314 
152 
226 

2,438 
802 

1,033 
701 

334 
639 
379 

3,439 

1,058 

625 

2,836 
485 
743 
391 
366 

632 
96 
87 

229 

313 

1,087 
407 

395 



Proportion for 
One Person. 

0.233 
0.090 
0.166 
0.059 
. 0.079 
0.054 
0.058 
0.162 

0.125 
0.080 
0.II7 
X.II2 
0.099 
0.093 
0.137 

0.162 

0.135 
0.146 

0.172 
0.163 

0.145 
0.137 
0.087 

0.107 
0.044 
0.059 
0.038 
0.068 

0.122 
0.122 

0.052 



The following letter from Mr. John Schroeder, the former 
United States Consul to Costa Rica, himself an expert on all 

126 



matters pertaining to agriculture, gives a clear and unbiased 

view of the subject, and being an official letter to the Bureau 

of Statistics, has an important bearing on this department of 

farming. 

San Jose, Costa Rica, America Central. 

Dear Sir : It may of course be taken for granted, that 
your question about the result of cattle-farming in Costa 
Rica, is based upon foregoing experience in this branch of 
farming and husbandry in your home. Else the following 
investigation will only partly benefit you, as the present let- 
ter is not intended to serve as a treatise upon general stock- 
raising, but only upon its practical result at present applica- 
ble to Costa Rica. 

As statistic computations can only exhibit fully their 
meaning and their consequences by making them compare 
with similar computations abroad, I shall also quote what 
experience has taught in some other countries in the matter 
of cattle-farming. 

Norway in Northern Europe, and Costa Rica in Central 
America, are both exceedingly mountainous countries. 
The development and character of the original native cattle 
are, therefore, in several respects very similar. Their meat 
and fat are the produce of pastures, but their dairy produce 
to a great degree depend on hay, grain and roots. It is well 
to remember that a >ow"s natural aptness to produce milk is 
one thing, and the quantity p;^duced another, because the 
latter depends upon the food^'and treatment of the animal 
and not upon its mere propeiVsity. I call your special at- 
tention to this distinction, because in ninety cases out of 
one hundred I have found elsewhere, as well as in Costa 
Rica, that the complaint as to poor milkers righteously 
ought to read ' ' poor treatment and insufficient feeding. ' ' 
The introduction of milkers from abroad or the mixing of races 
is, therefore, in itself no guarantee for success. With proper 
treatment and judicious selection among the native cattle, I 
think the immigrant will succeed better than with imported. 

Under my personal inspection as farmer in Norway, a 
comparative trial was made during several years, the trial 
including nine cows of mixed breed — Norway, Scottish, 
Holstein — and eighteen cows of pure Nonvay mountain breed. 

The weight of each animal is added as a factor necessary 
to judge rightly its comparative value as a milk producer. 
The food was not the best or richest, but the cows received 
all they could eat of the farm's produce. 

127 



From June 15, to October i, the cows were daily turned 
out on pasture consisting partly of natural grasses and partly 
of short white clover. October i, they were tied up in the 
stable for the winter (260 days), and the daily food consisted 
of hay and different roots equivalent to the nutrimental value 
of twenty pounds of hay ; also of four pounds of oat-straw 
and eight pounds of rye and wheat-straw for chaff, equiva- 
lent to six pounds of hay — in all equivalent to twenty-six 
pound of hay per day to each cow. 



Cows OF Mixed 


Native 


AND Foreign Breed. 


Life Weight. 




Yearly Milk Produce. 


684 pounds. 




3,056;^ quarts. 


632 




3-048^ " 


564 " 




2,876i< " 


620 




2,830^ " 


784 " 




2,827>^ " 


463 " 




2,452>^ " 


655 " 




2,422^ 


572 




2,136^^ " 


640 




1.65334 " 


5,714 pounds ; 23,2 


34 quart; 


s, or 2,522 quarts per cow> 


Cows OF 


Pure Native Breed. 


Life Weight. 




Yearly Milk Produce. 


425 pounds. 




3,895 quarts. 


528 " 


,■ 


2,797/'^ " 


589 " 




2,730 


651 " 




2,38834 '• 


371 " 




2,643^ " 


486 




2,583^ " 


447 " * 




2,523^ " 


447 




2,430 


435 " 




2,295 


601 




2,272>^ " 


564 " 




2,250 


589 " 




2,133^ " 


271 " 




1,996 


463 " 




i,99ij^ " 


392 




1,982^4 


636 " 




1,968^ " 


415 " 




i,687>^ '• 


500 




1.425 



8,810 pounds ; 41,264 quarts, or 2,292 quarts per cow. 
Total, 14,524 pounds. Total, 64,558 quarts. 

128 



By the above comparative trial it is ascertained : 

That the twenty-seven cows have produced 444 quarts of 
milk for every 100 pounds life weight. 

That nine cows of mixed foreign and native breed have 
only given 407 quarts per each 100 pounds life weight. 

That eighteen cows of pure native breed gave 468 quarts 
for every 100 pounds life weight, being considerable more 
in proportion to their weight and size than heavier foreign 
mixed cows. 

By a similar trial with fifteen cows of pure Ayrshire breed, 
allowing each one daily fodder and feed to the value of 
twenty-nine pounds of hay, the average result for one year 
was 1 , 954 quarts per cow. 

Applying the above observation to Costa Rica, where 
the native cattle generally is of middle size, I should think 
it preferable to make good selections among the native 
stock rather than to introduce foreign large-bodied cattle at 
expensive cost : and which require a higher and richer 
feeding than the farmer can procure on the regular 
pastures. 

I have treated the dairy question rather lengthily, because 
the production of butter and cheese ought to be prominent 
in Costa Rica, where the cattle need not be stabled, where 
no provision for hay is made, and where butter can not be 
had under one dollar per pound and the coarsest of cheese 
not under forty cents per pound. A 2,000 quarts' milker 
will yearly produce about eighty-five pounds of butter and 
three hundred pounds of cheese. 

The complaint, that it is very difficult to rear calves in 
this country so they will turn out good milkers, and that 
for this reason the fanners have been obliged to import 
English, Holstein and Swiss cattle to create a superior dairy 
stock, I shall meet with observations fully well-known in old 
dairy countries. 

The Durham breed and its mixtures are expressly formed 
for producing meat and fat for the butcher shop, and for 
this particular purpose the calves are richly fed. The cows 
will hardly give a rich flow of milk for more than five 
months after calving. The introduction of Durham blood 
in a dairy stock will, therefore, not better, but ruin the 
milking qualities in the original stock. Several farmers in 
Costa Rica have in this way unintentionally retarded their 
expected progress. 

In forming your young dairy stock you must not allow 
the calves to enter into a state of fattening, because this 

129 



])ropensity will prevent the milk-organs from development. 
A richly reared calf is already full-grown at sixteen months 
of age when the calf is allowed to follow and suck the 
mother, and it will certainly turn out a butcher calf, even 
if the mother is a good milker. On the contrary, if the 
calf is fed moderately with mixture in the milk of coarser 
feed, its growth will be considerably slower, and it ought 
not to drop its first calf before two and one-half years old. 
As its structure is not inclined to form much meat, the milk- 
organs will develop more strongly when, after calving, the 
young mother is placed in a good pasture. 

The above ought to be an answer to your questions about 
dairy business and rearing of young stock for a dairy 
farm. 

Next comes the beef-cattle question: The consumption of 
fresh beef (hardly any beef is barrel-salted) is as general 
among all classes in Costa Rica as potatoes in Ireland. 
Fresh beef constitutes the daily dish all the year round, and 
only a comparatively small quantity is cut in long strips 
and air-dried for conservation like the Indian pemmekin in 
North America. In order to maintain a paying dairy-farm, 
it is necessary to rear the dairy stock on the farm, as grown 
and good cows seldom are for sale, but young beef cattle — 
steers— from two to three years old can always be had at 
the rate of from thirty to forty-five dollars, according to 
the size, from South America, Golfo Dulce, Guanacaste, 
Nicaragua, etc. It is, therefore, more than a local question, 
if it does not pay better to buy lean young cattle from 
steer-raisng districts, and fatten them until ready for sale 
after five or six months' cattle-run on the rich and ever 
green pastures of Costa Rica. 

Calculating that loo quarts or 200 pounds of fresh milk 
give about fifteen pounds of cheese at fifty cents^$7.50, 
and three pounds of butter at $1. 00^^3.00, in all — $10.50; 
and that a calf during its sucking time ( 6 months ) consumes at 
least 600 quarts, then the coming steer (one year old) costs 
6 x $10.50 or $63.00, besides the daily expense of attend- 
ance and risk of infantile sicknesses. 

Consequently a farm with extensive pastures had better 
be stocked with purchased steers, two or three years old at, 
perhaps, $44.00, than with home-reared beef cattle at 
$63.00. 

A regular lean two to three year steer, of native breed, 
Avill average 550 pounds life-weight. After five or six 
months' good pasturage it becomes 650 life-weight. The 

130 



same steer killed in lean condition will give from 300 to 350 
pounds meat, while fattened it yields from 400 to 450 
pounds of meat. On the market this life steer will average 
$70.00. Fifteen hands lean steers, imported from South 
America at $60.00, may, in fat condition, reach 700 pounds 
of meat and sell at from $90.00 to $110.00. 

In districts blessed with evergreen pastures, as Rio Frio, 
San Carlos, Sarapiqui, Lower Reventazon, San Juan, 
Hatina, Santa Clara, Sixola, and intermediate smaller val- 
leys where Guinea-grass is cultivated, the fattening process 
is completed in from five to six months. In other parts of 
the interior it takes, according to location and grasses, from 
one to several months more. Guinea-grass grows with ad- 
vantage only in the hot zone. 

All money calculations in this communication are made 
under the present system — one dollar American gold equal 
to $2.50 Costa Rica currency. 

From the foregoing you will find that parties with suffi- 
cient capital may do well by opening cattle-farms, and 
present owners of stock "haciendas" coin money, when 
they thoroughly understand all the branches of the busi- 
ness; but it takes a man in the vigor of youth to succeed. 
For my part I am now too old to enjoy daily horseback 
races over extensive cattle runs, and to manage unruly 
steers and neglectful stock-hands. I prefer to handle a 
plantation whose trees live, grow and rest in the place 
in which they are put. 

The accounts for one year of a non-paying farm, ex- 
clusively managed as a combined dairy and beef farm, is 
hereby given to enable you to judge where economical cur- 
tailing has to come in to make cattle-farms pay. At the 
time of my visit this year I found the farm to contain : 

Four hundred manzanas a pasture at lyo $28,000 

100 Manzanas timberland at J^20 2,000 

Houses and dwellings for farm hands and stables 4,000 

40 cows at |ioo 4,000 

40 calves up to one year of age at |io 400 

40 steers up to two years of age at 1:30 1,200 

40 steers over two years fat and nearly ready for market at $yo 2, 800 

60 steers bought lean for fattening at $50 (high price) . . . 3,000 

5 saddle and pack horses at I50 250 

4 large hogs, 1,200 pound weight 480 

20 small pigs 40 

4 goats and sheep at f 10 80 

Furniture, implements, saddles, ox-carts, etc 450 

Total capital represented $46,700 

131 



Income. 

Milk of 20 cows at 2,000 qts., one real per quart — 40,000 qts . |5,ooo 

Milk of 20 cows at 360 qts., one real per quart — 7,200 qts . . 900 

Sale of 40 steers over two years old, farm-reared, at f8o . . 3,240 

Sale of 60 steers, bought and fattened, at f 80 4,800 

15 fanegas, 9,000 pounds corn, at $20 per fanega 300 

20 cajuelas frijoles — beans — 500 pounds, at $4 per cajuela . 80 

4 hogs at 300 pounds each — 1,200 pounds — at 40c. a pound . 480 

8 goats and sheep at $10 80 

Income of poultry yard and platanos 60 

Total income $14,900 

Expenses. 
Milk to calves, 27, 200 quarts — a real indoor expensive young 

stock .... S3, 400 

60 steers, bought for fattening, at $44 2,640 

15 laborers at feo per month — $450 x 12 months 5,400 

Beef, poultry, corn, frijoles, milk and platanos included in 

expenses for household, repairs, implements, fencing . 300 

Total L'xpense $13,540 

Income |i4,900 

Expenses 13,540 

Leaving net profit $1,360 

But $1,360 is hardly three per cent, interest upon the in- 
vested capital $46,700, and not at all satisfactory in a coun- 
try where you receive ten per cent, yearly interest backed 
with first-class security with no effort. 

If from the capital you subtract the real estate value, 
$30,000, leaving the rest $16,700, as the only capital due 
to produce interest, then you reach about eight per cent. 

In my opinion, there were one or more leaks in the man- 
agement of this farm which w^orked to the disadvantage of 
the yearly result. Without going into a minute criticism 
you will, for instance, find fifteen farm-hands too many. 
Farm-hands, of course, are necessary, but they have to be 
under strict control and limited to the least possible num- 
ber, or they will eat up all the proceeds, and prove a can- 
cer to the most promising farm. 

To manage this farm I would say it needs one laboring 
foreman (the superintendency conducted by the owmer in 
person) and three cattlemen, who, in the morning, bring in 
and milk the cows and feed the calves. Also one cheese 
and butter-maker, who, by using the Centriful Cream Sep- 
arator, will, by II o'clock a.m., have easily disposed of 
all the dairy work. The rest of the day these men, excepting 
the foreman and the butter-man, may cart out the manure 

132 



and clean the stables. If the cows have been stabled and 
fed during the night they may bring in fresh cut grass for 
the next night, clean and cure the calves, and, after dinner, 
by 4 o'clock p.m., bring in the cows and out-going calves 
to suck their mothers. Also four day laborers, who, with 
the foreman, are steadily employed in cleaning brush and 
dead grasses out of the pastures, and one cook, who also 
attends to t'le poultry yard and keeps the superintendent's 
rooms in on^er. This makes in all ten hired men instead of 
fifteen. In San Carlos I have seen similar stock farms 
managed with six men and their foreman. The expense of 
salary and maintenance for fiifteen men is above quoted at 
$7,200. Deducting one-third, or $2,400, this saving added 
to the foregoing net profit 1 $1,360) brings the net income 
up to $3,760, (.'r fully eight per cent, interest upon the total 
capital, $46,701'. 

The daily cc^ sumption of beef, pork, lard, tallow and 
other articles m. -nufactured from cattle and hogs, reaches in 
Costa Rica 100,000 pounds, or 36 ^^ million pounds per 
year. The consumption of milk, cheese and butter, can, at 
present, not be ascertained, but it is certain that this coun- 
try, though eminently fitted for beef, dairy produce and 
pork-raising, for lack of cattle-farming, has yearly to im- 
port from the United States of America and Europe the fol- 
lowing articles : — 

Salted and canned beef and pork 149,850 

Tallow (Stearin) 76,408 

Butter 77,204 

Cheese 67,748 

Condensed milk in cans 52,126 

Cattle (life) 1,930,832 

Smoked hams and sausage 26,116 

Tallow for candles 237,718 

Lard 1,822,800 

Lard oil 10,984 

Lard for soup 204,636 

Fat for greese 27,864 

Ordinary soap 395, 900 

Meat and pork provisions 60,122 

Leather, cord and sole 7,082 

Poultry 800 

To this importation has to be added smuggled goods, not 
accounted for, but amounting to a considerable sum, be- 
cause this illegal trading is the natural consequence of ex- 
aggerated traffics, and serves as a popular regulator in all 
countries burdened with immoderate duty on the first 
necessaries of life. 

133 



All products of cattle-farming have consequently a sure 
home market, and you may feel convinced that capital, in 
the hands of experienced owners and managers, can be in- 
\'ested with a sure prospect of success in stock and dairy 
farming in Costa Rica. 

Respectfully, 

John Schroi",der. 



Costa IRica's (Breatest Mant- 
lEmioratlon. 

The overwhelming natural resources of Costa Rica have 
led me into a healthy enthusiasm in writing this pamphlet. 
My statements are, however, in no wise exaggerated. It is. 
an unbiased record of what I have learned from personal ex- 
perience. It is not a land-booming scheme, but my impression 
of the Costa Rica of to-day and its future. 

Those who have carefully studied this tabulation of facts,, 
must have become convinced of the great need of Costa Rica, 
namely — an increased population — and the fact is as important 
to America as to Costa Rica. The element necessary to make 
this a thrifty garden spot is American emigration. The 
following is an extract from a letter which I addressed to the 
Government of Costa Rica, from California, in 1889. This, 
expresses my sentiment to-day. 

" If it may be said that Central America, situated as it is, 
probably forms the most important section of the world, since 
it is washed on either side by the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, 
and is connected on the north with Mexico, while to the 
south lie all the remaining Republics of Spanish America, and 
that it presents a thousand facilities for direct and rapid com- 
munication with the principal commercial centres of the globe, 
how can we over-estimate the brilliant possibilities of our small 
but beautiful country, which surpasses in so many points its 
neighboring Republics ? 

T34 



Costa Rica, with most fertile lands, with a great variety of 
climate and products, with numerous rivers that are either 
navigable, or can be rendered so, with excellent harbors, with 
extensive forests, rich in timber, and cabinet and dye woods, 
with a growing industrious and honest population, and above 
all with the prospect of having on the north and south, canals 
which will unite the two great oceans, giving to the countrj' 
the greatest facility for transportation, which will eventually 
make it the center of traffic of both Americas ; the great ware- 
house where the immense fleet of vessels, sailing between the 
two oceans will, of necessity, replenish their stores. 

This countiy, so endowed by nature, is destined to become, 
not only an agricultural and industrial center, but also a place 
whither, on account of its mild cHmate, and its intermediate 
position between the great cities of North and South America, 
thousands of people will resort who find themselves obliged to 
seek refuge from the suffocating heat of summer, and the severe 
cold of winter. 

Since this Republic combines so many advantages which are 
being but slowly utilized, since an imperious necessity demands 
it, and since the capital of the country permits it, and we are 
still indefinitely postponing the progress which we ought now to 
be making, why should we not take measures at once for 
reaching this desirable end, since it is now so easily obtainable ? 

Let us give an impulse to immigration, which is the most 
potent instrument of progress ; let us gather in those who are 
honest and industrious, that they may unite to form one peo- 
ple with our own. Moreover, the following words of Sar- 
miento are not to be forgotten, for they are indisputable 
truths: " The greatest enemy of the Spanish- American Re- 
pubHcs is the wilderness — the insufficiency of population ;" 
likewise these others of Felix Frias : " Every European man 
who enters Chili is an element of order, for he is a hand at 
the plough and in the workshop — a man decently dressed, 
along side of one in tatters, a worker beside an idler — ^this is 

135 



the great agent of civilization. These are of more avail for 
our material interests than any institution whatever, and with- 
out them, institutions are but a house built on the sand." 

Let us follow the example of other countries that have ris'='- 
within so short a time and now attract the attention o^ :e 
world, without having the material resources which we ^' ' jss.. 
While we look with admiration upon what has been donO in 
other places, let us say to ourselves : " We ought to do as 
much." Firm in our purpose, let us show no vacillation in 
carrying out an enterprise that will confer greatness upon 
Costa Rica, and immortality upon the Government by which 
it is supported. 

Let us look for a moment at the progress of California ; the 
development of the Argentine Republic ; the wonderful 
changes that have taken place in Lower California ; and the 
astonishing growth of the settlements of Oklahoma, Guthrie 
and Purcell in the Indian Territory, in the United States ; all 
of which is due solely to the stream of immigration which 
they have been able to attract. 

California, which in 1847 and '48 was almost a wilderness, 
without towns, agriculture, manufactures or commerce, has 
to-day a population of nearly two million, numerous cities of 
Importance, manufactures without number, and a vabt extent 
of cultivated land — all of which, when reduced to figures, give 
results that cause astonishment. 

The Argentine Republic affords clear proof that its rapid 
progress is due to immigration. In 1865 there were only 
three settlements in Santa Fe, and now there are a hundred 
and ninety. At that time there were only 29,585 acres in 
cultivation, and now there are 1,482,053. On November 3d 
of the year just past, Mr. E. Sundblad, Commissioner of Immi- 
gration in Buenos Ayres, reported that 20,147 persons had 
arrived during the preceding October, which added to the 
arrivals from January to September made a total of 1 2 5 ,402 . 
The progress which is observable in this republic, and which 

136 



is known to the whole world, has had its beginning within a 
very few years, so much so that in 1883 the Argentine consul 
at Havre reported that 794 persons had sailed that year ; the 
next year the figures rose to i ,704. 

On the other hand Mr. S. Lamas, Inspector of Immigrants 
in . °nos Ayres, under date of November 19, 1888, reported 
to th nister that 5 ,020 French had already arrived in that 
month, from which he estimated that 100,000 would have 
arrived by the end of the year. The consuls to the other 
European nations furnish statements equally as flattering, from 
which the stream of immigration for the past year may be 
safely estimated at 200,000 persons, who being judiciously 
distributed and eager to secure an independent position, per- 
haps unattainable in their own native country, will have made 
great progress during the year in their new home. 

Even in not very desirable localities progress is seen to be 
in proportion to immigration. As an example of this we may 
point to the sandy districts of Lower California, where in 1886 
there were only 500 inhabitants, living in wretchedness ; but 
since that date, when the Mexican Government granted an 
American company a tract of 18,000,000 acres, all has been 
changed, and there are not only several towns of considerable 
importance, connected by 140 miles of railroad, but there are 
also telegraphs, telephones, electric lights, good hotels, exten- 
sive schools and magnificent acqueducts for irrigating lands 
that previously could not be made to produce anything for 
want of water. 

Perhaps there is not recorded in the history of the world an 
event so remarkable as the one related by the North-American 
Press, in describing what passed at Oklahoma at 10 A. m. on 
the 22d of April last, when 15,000 persons in 3,090 wagons 
and on several hundred horses, were waiting for Captain 
Woodson to give, in the name of the United States Govern- 
ment, the word " Forward," upon which they should proceed 
to travel the remaining two miles to the place, previously 

137 



inhabited only by Indians, but now to be apportioned among 
those desiring to form the new settlement. By the night of 
that same day, April 22d, the lots had been staked off, and 
the streets laid out ; and the tents of the host, pitched in their 
respective places, formed a city that will serve forever as an 
example to other nations, and prove that the fearless and go 
ahead American character is capable of accomplishing appar- 
ent impossibilities. Two days later, there not being room for 
the people who continued coming, it became necessary to 
locate in other places, the towns called Guthrie, Pur(j-^ ^l and 
Harrison, which at once received 6.000, 4,000 and 3,000 
inhabitants respectively. The next da}' Guthrie had two 
banks doing good business; and at the post office at 9.15 
A. M., 233 persons stood in line waiting their turn, 500 having 
already been waited on. If all this was done in places where 
the natural resources are less abundant and varied than in 
Costa Rica, there is no reason to doubt our becoming in a 
very short time a happy, prosperous nation, if we can turn 
towards our fertile waste places that stream of immigration 
now flowing into less desirable localities. 

The people of Costa Rica love the institution of the United 
States ; they heartily admire its worthy sons. It is because of 
this, and other fraternal sentiments, and because they appre- 
ciate the importance of their peculiar ingenuity, inventive 
ability, and original mechanical resources, that Costa Rica 
offers to share with them its natural wealth, its hospitality, and 
its friendly congratulations. 

Enough has been said throughout this pamphlet to show 
that wealth cannot be plucked from the flowering plants with- 
out effort, nor can gold be washed from the surface dust 
without hard work. Emigrants should not go to Costa Rica, 
or any other new country, without enough money to assure 
an independence for the greater part of the first year. A man 
who has this, and a Yankee love of work and industry, is 
certain to succeed in Costa Rica. 



Mbere to Settle.* 

Where to settle is probably the most difficult problem. A 
mistake in this will make the difference of success or failure 
to the emigrant. So much depends upon the special trades 
or industries to which persons are adapted, or which they 
may select as their future occupation, that this cannot be defi- 
nitely discussed here. This applies particularly to agriculture, 
since there is a vast difference between the high and the low 
lands, "u :h a corresponding difference in the productions of 
the soil. To make an advantageous selection requires special 
knowledge of the country, which a new comer would not be 
apt to acquire until many unfortunate mistakes had been 
made. Upon this, and all other questions, I shall be glad to 
talk personally to intending settlers at the Cotton States and 
International Exposition. All letters of inquiry from intend- 
ing visitors or settlers will receive prompt attention. 



*For more detailed information on this subject appl}' to, or address Mv, IRiCbart 
IDillafranca, at the Cotton States and International Exposition until December 31, iSg.s ; 
and thereafter at Typographic Department, Sackett & Wilhelms Lithographing Co., 
jio Fifth Ave., New York. 



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